Happiness at home may equal happiness at work, according to a study published in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology.
Assistant professor Nathan Bowling at Wright State University and a team of researchers analyzed 223 studies that were completed between 1967 and 2008, all of which looked at the correlation between general contentedness and happiness at work. They found that people who had a positive outlook on life in general also enjoyed their jobs more than those who felt negatively about life.
Bowling said the results may not bode well for those seeking happiness through their careers. He and his team found stronger links between a general positivity and a subsequent satisfaction in the workplace than job satisfaction and a subsequent overall happiness.
“These results suggest that if people are, or are predisposed to be, happy and satisfied in life generally, then they will be likely to be happy and satisfied in their work,” said Bowling. “However, the flipside of this finding could be that those people who are dissatisfied generally and who seek happiness through their work, may not find job satisfaction. Nor might they increase their levels of overall happiness by pursuing it.”
While a job may not have the power to instill overall happiness, workplace stress can certainly have an impact on general well-being. As a result, companies that make efforts to reduce their workers’ stress levels tend to also boost employee performance.
