Be happy first and then success follows
19 December 2005
by Carina
Lee
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Happy people are more inclined to embark on new goals in life, resulting in positive emotions, as psychologists examined the connections between desirable characteristics, life successes, and well-being. Sonja Lyubomirsky, the lead author of the American Psychological Association, explains that happy people are generally more successful in wider aspects of life, comparative to people who are less happy. Lyubomirsky explains "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. Happy people are thus able to benefit from these perceptions." The study conducted examined over 275, 000 people and three main areas of evidence were looked at. To determine the happiness and positive effect and how they related to culturally-valued success; cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental designs were observed. Results show that a person's level of happiness does in fact direct human behaviour to produce success in many areas of life including work, relationships, and health. |
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Related Links
Original release from American Psychological Association
Nature
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