Does Happiness Promote
Career Success?
Julia K. Boehm
Sonja Lyubomirsky
University of California, Riverside
Past research has demonstrated a relationship between happiness and workplace suc-
cess. For example, compared with their less happy peers, happy people earn more
money, display superior performance, and perform more helpful acts. Researchers
have often assumed that an employee is happy and satisfied because he or she is
successful. In this article, the authors review evidence in support of an alternative
hypothesis—namely, that happiness is a source of why particular employees are more
successful than others. To this end, the authors consider evidence from three types of
studies—cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental—that relate happiness to var-
ious work outcomes. Taken together, the evidence suggests that happiness is not only
correlated with workplace success but that happiness often precedes measures of suc-
cess and that induction of positive affect leads to improved workplace outcomes.
Keywords: happiness; subjective well-being; positive emotion; work; career;
success
A wealth of research suggests that happy and satisfied individuals are relatively
more successful in the workplace. For example, happiness is related to income
(Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2002), favorable evaluations by a superior (Cropanzano &
Wright, 1999), helping fellow workers (George, 1991), and social support from col-
leagues and supervisors (Iverson, Olekalns, & Erwin, 1998). Most researchers have
assumed that the accomplishment of such indicators of success in the workplace
causes a person to be happy. In fact, the alternative hypothesis—that happiness
causes success—may be equally plausible. In this article, we review the available lit-
erature to support the idea that happiness is an important precursor and determinant
of career success.
We define a happy person as someone who frequently experiences positive emo-
tions. Examples of positive emotions include joy, satisfaction, contentment, enthu-
siasm, and interest. The experience of slightly to moderately intense positive
emotions most of the time has been found to be a strong predictor of judgments
of happiness (Diener, Sandvik, & Pavot, 1991). Indeed, intense positive emotions
do not predict happiness as well as low-grade but frequent positive emotions.
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JOURNAL OF CAREER ASSESSMENT, Vol. XX No. X, Month XXXX xx–xx
DOI: 10.1177/1069072707308140
© XXXX Sage Publications
Throughout this article, we use the terms happy, high positive affect, greater posi-
tive emotions, and higher well-being interchangeably to describe a person who feels
mostly positive emotions (relative to negative emotions) most of the time.
Our focus on positive emotions is not arbitrary. We argue that happiness leads
to success precisely through the experience of positive affect. Although the exact
mechanism is still unclear, several pathways are likely. First, prior research sug-
gests that positive emotions are associated with approach-oriented behavior
(Elliot & Thrash, 2002; Watson, Wiese, Vaidya, & Tellegen, 1999). That is, peo-
ple in a good mood are more likely to enter novel situations, interact with other
people, and pursue new goals (Carver, 2003). Positive emotions also signal that
life is good and that no threats are readily apparent (Cantor et al., 1991; Carver
& Scheier, 1998). According to Fredrickson (1998, 2001), a safe and comfortable
environment allows one to “broaden and build” intellectual, social, and physical
resources, which can be called on in later times of need. Armed with previously
acquired resources and primed to pursue new goals, people who experience pos-
itive affect are particularly well suited to experience success. In the literature
review that follows, we seek to demonstrate that happy people enjoy more suc-
cess in the workplace than their less happy peers and that such success is trig-
gered by the experience of positive emotions.
To this end, we consider three types of investigations to build our case—cross-
sectional, longitudinal, and experimental. Cross-sectional studies provide corre-
lational evidence of a relationship between happiness and career outcomes.
Although cross-sectional evidence cannot establish a causal relationship between
variables, it is nonetheless critical to include, as it verifies that a relationship
between two variables exists. By contrast, longitudinal studies speak to the ques-
tion of causal direction by providing evidence of temporal order. In other words,
if happiness is observed prior to career success, then the reverse causal path—
from success to happiness—cannot be supported. One limitation of both longi-
tudinal and cross-sectional evidence, however, is that the possibility always exists
that a third variable (like conscientiousness, sociability, or intelligence) could
simultaneously determine both career success and happiness. Fortunately, exper-
imental studies that induce positive (or negative) emotions via random assign-
ment provide the strongest evidence for causality. Unfortunately, such laboratory
experiments can only manipulate relatively low and transient levels of affect and,
moreover, often lack external validity, which makes it difficult to pinpoint the
exact causal mechanism. However, although cross-sectional, longitudinal, or
experimental investigations alone cannot provide sufficient support for our the-
sis, all three taken together offer a persuasive body of evidence supporting the
notion that happiness plays a role in workplace success.
In this article, we ask three primary questions that are uniquely relevant to each
type of evidence considered. Cross-sectional evidence, the most abundant evidence
available, can address the question of whether happy people are relatively more
likely to engage in adaptive workplace behaviors (or behaviors paralleling success)
and to be more accomplished in their careers. Longitudinal evidence can establish
2 JOURNAL OF CAREER ASSESSMENT / Month XXXX
whether happiness precedes success in the workplace. And finally, experimental evi-
dence can determine whether laboratory-induced happiness produces superior
workplace outcomes. What follows is a review of the literature relevant to each of
the above questions.
CROSS-SECTIONAL EVIDENCE: DO HAPPY PEOPLE
ENGAGE IN SUCCESSFUL BEHAVIORS AND ARE
MORE ACCOMPLISHED IN THE WORKPLACE?
In general, people who experience a preponderance of positive emotions
enjoy more beneficial outcomes in the workplace than those who experience
lower levels of positive emotions. To begin, employees with high positive affect
have jobs that involve a wide range of tasks and are described as more meaning-
ful and more autonomous (Staw, Sutton, & Pelled, 1994). Other studies also sup-
port the idea that happy people have a higher degree of autonomy in their jobs
than their less happy peers and that such increased control of the environment
may buffer against burnout (Iverson et al., 1998; see also Van Katwyk, Fox,
Spector, & Kelloway, 2000). Such job qualities may be associated with enhanced
workplace success because they make a job more pleasant.
Besides describing their job more positively, happy people are also more satis-
fied with their jobs compared with unhappy people (Connolly & Viswesvaran, 2000;
George, 1995; Fisher, 2002; Judge & Ilies, 2004; Judge, Thoresen, Pucik, &
Welbourne, 1999; Mignonac & Herrbach, 2004; Thoresen, Kaplan, Barsky, Warren,
& de Chermont, 2003; Weiss, Nicholas, & Daus, 1999). Although many attempts
have been made to demonstrate a connection between job satisfaction and job per-
formance (Iaffaldano & Muchinsky, 1985), the findings have been inconsistent
(Judge, Thoresen, Bono, & Patton, 2001). In response to the mixed evidence, some
researchers have reconsidered the primarily cognitive conceptualization of job sat-
isfaction and have instead begun to focus on its affective component. Indeed, it
appears that positive affect is a good predictor of job performance (Wright &
Cropanzano, 2000), and this link is evident across diverse work environments. For
example, supervisors review happy people relatively more favorably (Cropanzano &
Wright, 1999; Judge et al., 1999; Staw et al., 1994; Wright & Staw, 1999), sales man-
agers with high positive affect oversee salespeople who are rated as high performing
(George, 1995), and happy cricket players show superior performance during games
(Totterdell, 1999, 2000). In one study, the happiness of dormitory resident assistants
predicted how effective they were judged by residents (DeLuga & Mason, 2000).
In addition to being judged by others as strong performers, happy employees
perform relatively better on more “objective” work-related tasks. For example, in
one study, business students with high positive affect were better decision makers
and had superior interpersonal skills—both important characteristics of success-
ful managers—than those with lower positive affect (Staw & Barsade, 1993).
Boehm, Lyubomirsky / HAPPINESS AND WORK 3
Indeed, judges rated the happy students as having greater managerial potential
than the others. Furthermore, insurance agents with a positive disposition have
been found to sell more insurance policies than their less positive counterparts
(Seligman & Schulman, 1986). Although such correlational evidence does not
prove causality, some preliminary data suggest that the relationship between hap-
piness and performance can be bidirectional. In other words, happy moods lead
workers to perform better and better performance produces happy moods; the
two components mutually reinforce each other (Coté, 1999).
Superior performance by happy employees is not limited to tasks explicitly pre-
scribed by the job position. The presence of positive affect predicts behavior that
extends beyond a job description but that benefits other individuals or the organiza-
tion itself (Borman, Penner, Allen, & Motowidlo, 2001; Credé, Chernyshenko,
Stark, Dalal, & Bashshur, 2005; Fisher, 2002; George, 1991; Ilies, Scott, & Judge,
2006; Lee & Allen, 2002; Miles, Borman, Spector, & Fox, 2002; Williams & Shiaw,
1999). Such behavior has been called, among other things, “organizational citizen-
ship behavior” and entails acts involving altruism, courtesy, and conscientiousness.
Similar taxonomies include behaviors like exerting extra effort, volunteering for
optional tasks, helping others, and being cooperative (Borman et al., 2001), as well
as protecting the organization, offering suggestions for improvements, developing
personal skills, and spreading goodwill (George & Brief, 1992). All of these behav-
iors are related, in that they both enhance an organization’s functioning and corre-
late with positive emotions. Indeed, happy people are more likely to help fellow
workers and customers than unhappy people (George, 1991). Even the number of
hours a person volunteers for organizations outside the workplace is related to higher
well-being (Thoits & Hewitt, 2001). As most job descriptions do not specify every
task that an employee could do to support an organization, employees with positive
emotions thus are essentially going “above and beyond” to enhance the functioning
of an organization.
Furthermore, workers who experience positive emotions not only go beyond
their required duties at work, but they are more invested and involved in their
jobs (George, 1995). Indeed, the opposite of job involvement—that is, with-
drawal behavior such as burnout, absenteeism, and turnover—are all negatively
related to high positive affect (Credé et al., 2005; Miles et al., 2002; Thoresen
et al., 2003). In other words, happy people show less burnout (Iverson et al.,
1998), less emotional exhaustion (Wright & Cropanzano, 1998), and less absen-
teeism (George, 1989; Gil et al., 2004), and they are less likely to quit their jobs
(Van Katwyk et al., 2000) than unhappy people. Employees with high positive
affect are also better able to cope with organizational change than employees
with low positive affect (Judge et al., 1999). In sum, workers with high positive
affect are more committed to their organization (Herrbach, 2006; Judge et al.,
1999; Mignonac & Herrbach, 2004; Thoresen et al., 2003) and do not typically
engage in withdrawal behavior as a response to dissatisfaction in the workplace.
These findings have important implications, as withdrawal behavior can be costly
for an organization in terms of productivity loss and retraining expenses.
4 JOURNAL OF CAREER ASSESSMENT / Month XXXX
A happy person’s involvement and commitment to the workplace does not go
unnoticed by others. Indeed, managers with a positive mood at work receive
more rewards from their supervisors (George, 1995). Furthermore, a small rela-
tionship between well-being and income exists, such that as well-being increases,
so does income (Judge et al., 1999; Pinquart & Sorensen, 2000). (In fact, well-
being and income are more strongly associated than education and income.) At
higher levels of income, however, additional factors such as desires, expectations,
and social comparisons appear to moderate the relationship between income and
well-being (Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2002). Thus, happiness is more relevant to
income at the low end of the pay scale.
Besides the material advantages that happy employees reap, they accrue addi-
tional benefits in the form of interpersonal rewards. For example, people who
experience more positive emotions receive more social support from both col-
leagues and supervisors (Iverson et al., 1998). One explanation for this finding is
that it is pleasant to help others who are generally positive and cheerful. Or
coworkers may offer support because happy workers tend to be cooperative
(Miles et al., 2002). For example, happy chief executives with managerial teams
also high in positive affect experience relatively less conflict and more coopera-
tion (Barsade, Ward, Turner, & Sonnenfeld, 2000). Furthermore, those same
managerial teams feel relatively more satisfied about group relations.
In general, people with a positive disposition are more likely to be favorably
evaluated by their friends compared to people without such a disposition (Taylor,
Lerner, Sherman, Sage, & McDowell, 2003). In an oft-cited study, women who
expressed more sincere positive emotions in their yearbook photos were judged
as more sociable, pleasant, and warm compared with women who expressed less
sincere positive emotion (Harker & Keltner, 2001). Furthermore, when the year-
book judges were asked to imagine interacting with the women in the photos,
they responded differently depending on whether genuine positive emotions
were expressed. The judges showed greater interest and more positive expecta-
tions of the interaction toward women who expressed genuine positive emotions.
In sum, happy people tend to be more popular and likable than unhappy people
(Bell, 1978; Feingold, 1983), which suggests that interpersonal exchanges may be
more rewarding for those with high positive affect.
Based on the correlational data presented here, happiness is indeed associated
with evidence of success in the workplace. Happy employees have more engag-
ing and autonomous jobs, they are more satisfied with their jobs, and they show
superior performance in the workplace than less happy employees. Furthermore,
happy workers are more likely to engage in beneficial extrarole behaviors and less
likely to engage in withdrawal behaviors. Finally, employees with high positive
affect garner both material and interpersonal rewards. Although such cross-
sectional evidence only allows for correlational inferences, we now turn to lon-
gitudinal evidence, which supplements the cross-sectional data by establishing a
temporal order for the incidence of happiness and success.
Boehm, Lyubomirsky / HAPPINESS AND WORK 5