9 Ways of Happiness Lead to Success

How we think about happiness and success has profound implications for how we run our lives. If we think that success mainly leads to happiness then we are more motivated to focus on success to the exclusion of happiness right now, assuming that happiness will naturally flow from success when we obtain it.


People in a positive mood are more likely to:

1. Talk to others. In one experiment men in a positive mood were more likely to talk to a woman and to make self-disclosures, which are important in social relations.

2. Be interested in leisure activities. People in a good mood want to throw a party, go on vacation or go out for a meal.

3. Enjoy those social interactions and leisure activities more.

4. Resolve conflicts effectively. Studies have found people in a good mood are more likely to try and collaborate rather than avoid conflict and compete when they are put in a positive mood.

5. Help others. When in a good mood, people are more likely to display what psychologists call 'prosocial behaviour' - helping others and being generous with both time and money.

6. Feel healthier. Experimental evidence shows that people in a good mood experience less pain and perceive themselves to be more healthy.

7. Be more creative. People in a positive mood are more likely to think with originality and flexibility - perhaps through encouraging playfulness.

8. Perform complex tasks better. Somewhat controversial this one but some evidence supports it although it probably depends on the nature of the task.

9. Attribute success to their own skills. Good moods improve people's self-efficacy (our confidence in our own abilities).

Feeling better in the moment is not only more pleasant but is also likely to open our minds to opportunities at work, play and in our personal relationships. It's recognising and taking these opportunities that will lead us to success.


Experiential versus material purchases
(Adapted)
Leaf Van Boven from the University of Colorado and Thomas Gilovich from Cornell University carried out an intriguing experiment that gets at this question of whether materialism results in less happiness (Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003).

Materialism is a dirty word. It also gets a bad rap in psychology. Studies consistently show that people who agree with statements like "You will buy things just because you want them," tend to be:

Less satisfied with life,
Less happy,
More likely to be depressed,
More likely to be paranoid,
More likely to be narcissistic.

Why do experiences fare better than possessions?
1. Experiences improve with time (possessions don't).
The reason why experiences improve with time may be because it is possible to think about experiences in a more abstract manner than possessions. Material possessions are harder to think about in an abstract sense. It's more likely the experience of that summer has taken on a symbolic meaning that can live longer in your memory than a possession.

2. Experiences are resistant to unfavourable comparisons.
How we might view positive events. It's well established that social comparisons can have a huge effect on how we view what might seem like positive events. That is, in other words, it's not about how much we earn, it's about how much we earn in comparison to other people. It's the social comparison, then, not the actual amount of money, that affects how we feel about our earnings. Comparing possessions, however, is generally easy. It's more difficult to make an unfavourable comparison when there is nothing directly comparable.

3. Experiences have more social value
There are two reasons experiences have more social value than possessions. First, experiences tend to encourage social relationships and increased social relationships are good for our happiness. Second, it is more socially acceptable to discuss our experiences with others. People who bang on about their possessions are considered much less likeable than those who talk about their holiday adventures.

Limitations
- The experiments examined here looked at short-term emotions - will these short-term emotions add up to long-term happiness?
- Highly materialistic people might actually get more pleasure out of material purchases than experiences

REFERENCES
Lyubomirsky, S., King, L. & Diener, E. (2005) The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success?

Van Boven, L. (2005) Experientialism, Materialism, and the Pursuit of Happiness.