Happiness Is A Vital Component to Success

Despite previous studies and common belief which says that happiness results from the professional success and achievements a person has, it seems that things are the other way around, optimism and good disposition are the ones which lead to a life full of achievements.

"Our review provides strong support that happiness, in many cases, leads to successful outcomes, rather than merely following from them," Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of the study said.

In addition, the likelihood of happy individuals to have fulfilling marriages and relationships, high incomes, superior work performance is much higher than for those less happy.

"This may be because happy people frequently experience positive moods and these positive moods prompt them to be more likely to work actively toward new goals and build new resources. When people feel happy, they tend to feel confident, optimistic, and energetic and others find them likable and sociable," the author also said.

The study involved three types of tests: cross-sectional (which compared different groups of people and involved questions like "Are happy people more successful than unhappy people?"), longitudinal (with questions "Does happiness precede success?" and experimental.

Although a person's overall happiness is not objectively measurable this does not mean it does not have a real physiological component, the neurotransmitter dopamine being involved in the sensation of desire and often associated by researchers with pleasure.

Photo credit: Stanford University