Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

'Chronic happiness' the key to success

Lyndsay Moss
Sunday 18 December 2005 20:00 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The key to success may be "chronic happiness" rather than simply hard work and the right contacts, psychologists have found.

Many assume a successful career and personal life leads to happiness. But psychologists in the US say happiness can bring success.

Researchers from the universities of California, Missouri and Illinois examined connections between desirable characteristics, life success and well-being in more than 275,000 people.

They found that happy individuals were predisposed to seek out new goals in life, leading to success, which also reinforced their already positive emotions.

The psychologists addressed questions such as whether happy people were more successful than unhappy people, and whether happiness came before or after a perceived success.

Writing in Psychological Bulletin, published by the American Psychological Association, they concluded that "chronically happy people" were generally more successful in many areas of life than less happy people.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in