Happiness

by Ed Diener

  Job satisfaction is more than a luck-of-the draw experience. By analyzing the features that good jobs and workplaces have in common, we can identify predictable factors that promote satisfying work, which in turn lead to more benefits for workers and companies alike. So if employees understand their jobs, use their unique skills, get positive feedback, see their work as meaningful, receive social support at work, and possess the tools they need to perform their jobs well, they are likely to be happy and satisfied workers.

  Job Fit and Challenge

  We described the benefits of happiness in terms of happy workers and happy workplaces, but what about the work itself? It makes sense to wonder whether there are jobs that are more likely to promote happiness and those that might detract from it. Are careers in the military emotionally rewarding or stressful? How about boxing, accounting, dentistry, sex work, or pearl diving? Of course, life would be a lot simpler if it were as easy as identifying a single profession that would guarantee happiness. In real life, however, the issue is more complicated.

  The good news is that many jobs promote well-being. You should first look to the experience of others when you are selecting a career. Some professions tend to show high levels of satisfaction, and others do not. These career ratings are associated to some extent with the amount of education required to enter a profession, with jobs requiring more learning and education on average being more satisfying. Don't shortchange yourself in terms of education. Some of the most satisfied workers are clergy, educators, engineers, painters, office supervisors, psychologists, and those working in financial services. Some of the least satisfied workers on average are waitresses, roofers, cashiers, meat cutters, and bartenders. We don't know, however, if the differences in work satisfaction are due to who is drawn to the jobs in the first place, to the pay, or to the nature of the work. Nevertheless, you should ensure that you prepare yourself to be qualified for a rewarding job!

  Remember folks who have a calling orientation and engage in job crafting? The research shows that any type of work can be a calling, ranging from secretarial work, to nursing, to being a tour guide. The issue is less about the specific duties of any individual job and more about how well a person fits with the work and commits to it. The detail-oriented work of a tax auditor or a NASA mission control specialist requires a particular personality type, just as the socially demanding work of a tour guide calls for an extroverted disposition. Clearly, not every type of work is for everyone. Finding a job that will make you happy, then, is partly a matter of finding a job that is right for you, one that harnesses your gifts, is interesting to you, and that you find meaningful.

  Another aspect of work that can promote well-being is the degree to which it challenges you. Everyone likes some challenge, but the goal is to encounter just the right amount of challenge. Too much and you will feel anxiety. Too little and you will be bored. Think about it: if you were asked to run the world by yourself, the enormity of the task would be discouraging. If you were asked to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all day long, you would quickly become restless with this overly easy job. But when the challenge is optimal, that is, when it matches your skill level well, you fall into a state of "flow." Everyone is familiar with flow, that blissful state wherein you become absorbed in your work and lose track of time. It is what athletes refer to as being "in the zone." The psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi has investigated this state for three decades. Csikszentmihalyi, a former mountain climber and chess player, became interested in flow as a result of his personal experiences. As it happens, both rock climbing and chess have formal systems for grading the ability of a participant. Csikszentmihalyi noticed that when the ability and the challenge were optimally matched - neither an opponent nor a mountain too hard nor too easy - people fell into flow. His research confirmed his observations and he produced a simple figure to describe this pleasant state (figure 5.1).

  Flow arises when skills are matched to the challenge of the activity, and can be especially rewarding when both challenge and skills are high. Consider the sometimes terrifying prospect of teaching your teenager to drive. The first few times you start out, there is likely to be fear, angry words, and a sense of frustration. For the vast majority of teens, the challenge of driving is just too much in the early stages, when they have little or no skills behind the wheel. But with practice, student drivers become adept at turning, signaling, braking, and accelerating. They can become so proficient at these basic tasks, in fact, that if you continue to practice in the safe confines of a parking lot, they will become bored. They are ready for an increase in challenge, to match their new level of ability. Driving on quiet residential streets or main boulevards at nonpeak times is a perfect way to ramp up the challenge. But as new drivers master these new tests, they are ready for ever-increasing levels of challenge, such as driving on crowded freeways, in the rain or snow, or through the mountains. So long as a person's skills and the challenge to which she is applying them are matched, she can fall into a state of flow.

  Figure 5.1 Flow: The challenge of the task is matched to the employee's skills. From Csikszentmihalyi (1990)

  When the challenge of work and a person's skill are matched to each other, it is possible to become completely engrossed in an activity, to lose track of time and feel fully engaged, as if nothing else in the world existed. This pleasant state is, ultimately, what we all hope for while on the job. For the most part, finding flow is a matter of knowing your own talents, seeking out opportunities to use them, taking on increasingly challenging tasks as your skills grow, and understanding the reality that you cannot be in flow all the time.

  The people who are the most successful at achieving flow are those that look for new ways to grow at work. They are people who are hungry for challenge, mastery, and growth, and rarely like the feeling of "coasting along" on the job. For example, Lisa, an intake coordinator at a neighborhood health clinic in Denver, quickly mastered the computer programs necessary for her job. Within her first month on the job, Lisa was not only competent but skilled at her work. She enjoyed the interpersonal contact and the exactness of data entry, and she believed her work was worthwhile. Lisa also recognized that she risked becoming bored if she ceased growing at work. So, rather than resting on her laurels, Lisa requested further training in more advanced and challenging computer programs. She soon used her knowledge of these more sophisticated programs to reorganize the office's electronic files, making records easier and more user-friendly than ever before. The office staff appreciated the change and the new challenges kept Lisa highly engaged in her work.

  Conclusions

  Although people have long understood that work can lead to happiness, we now know that happiness can also increase your effectiveness on the job. Happiness at work comes from a variety of factors. First, it is important to find a job that is the right fit for you. This means work that is appropriately challenging, suited to your personality, meaningful, and interesting to you. Don't make the mistake of looking for income only and ignoring the match to your interests and abilities. Look for a job where you can do what you do best on a daily basis. Second, it is better to work for a company that promotes happiness on the job. This means having a happy supervisor, decent compensation, clear expectations for the job, and status and respect. In both cases, having good work and a good workplace can enhance your sense of meaning and satisfaction.

  But what about the other side of the coin? What about the benefits of happiness for work? Research shows that positive feelings are related to a variety of desirable outcomes on the job. On average, happy workers make more money, receive more promotions and better supervisor ratings, and are better citizens at work. Why might this be the case? First, happy people are more sociable, and so customers, colleagues, and supervisors resonate well with their warm, friendly attitudes. Also, happy people tend to have more energy and enthusiasm, and are more likely to work hard and confidently.

  Happy individuals experience fewer distractions
as a result of personal problems, such as marital discord and alcohol abuse. Happy workers are inclined to be more creative than their peers, and are therefore good at generating ideas and solving problems. Finally, happy workers are healthier, and are therefore more likely to show up to work and be fit to work. Taken together, these benefits pave the way for success at work that translates to more money, more friendships, more promotions, and, ultimately, more happiness. Both the worker and the organization profit.

  For readers looking for a job, the implications of this chapter are clear. Not only should you inquire about salary, location, and work hours, but you should also ask about the factors that create a happy workforce. Is the job one where you can use your strengths every day? Are the managers supportive? For supervisors, the lessons of this chapter are also clear. Provide workers with support and positive feedback, as well as specific areas where they can improve. Select workers who have the right temperament and strengths for the particular job. And give workers the structure and resources they need to do their jobs well, as well as some personal control over details of how goals are accomplished.

  When employers assess candidates for a job, people who tend to be happy and satisfied possess a positive characteristic that is an added factor to consider in their hiring decisions. For organizations, the lesson is clear - it is important to have a happy, satisfied workforce. This is likely to increase productivity, but also helps reduce turnover. Perhaps most important, satisfied workers benefit an organization because they are such good organizational citizens. Happy work does not mean that employees shouldn't be challenged or ever be stressed, of course. Challenge and motivation can be beneficial for enjoyable work. The modern organization that can create calling-oriented workers who are loyal to the company has a clear advantage over its competitors.

  Despite individual variability, there are common characteristics that most people like in work - variety, the ability to use complex skills, feedback on how one is doing, and the feeling that the work is meaningful. Few enjoy work that is always simple or repetitive and has little meaningful purpose. It is important to note that complex, challenging, interesting, and meaningful jobs are also those that pay more. Indeed, the pay differential between complex jobs and simple, repetitive jobs is growing. Thus, a major way to obtain a more satisfying job is to gain more education and otherwise qualify yourself for a more challenging occupation. You will kill two birds with a single stone - higher pay and more enjoyable work!

  A final point is important to emphasize for readers who want to be happy at work - a lot of job enjoyment is in your own attitudes and behavior. Because most adults have to work, why not decide to love your job, or change to a better one? If you want to love your job, take on the attitudes of someone with a calling. Commit yourself to doing the very best job you can do, to helping your company and other workers, and going beyond the minimal requirements of the job. Be grateful and positive to others at work. Finally, remember that Aristotle defined happiness as activities in pursuit of excellence. If you concentrate on doing your work at a high level of excellence, this will certainly result in your being a better employee. Think about how to craft your job to give it a special fit for you. Within the bounds of your job description, what can you add or subtract to make yourself a more effective employee? How can you help others at your workplace? You might just end up truly enjoying your job.

  Many people believe that their work is a drudge and their leisure is fun. But think about it for a moment - some activities are work for some and leisure hobbies for others. When NBA players work, they do what most of us do for fun - play and watch basketball. What farmers do for work, others do as gardeners or hobby farmers. When plumbers fix pipes, they do what some do around the house for leisure. There is no clear line on what is work or leisure. Chefs cook on the job; others cook for fun. One of our family members says there is nothing she loves more than mopping and seeing the spotless floors that result - a leisure activity that could be janitorial work. People travel for vacation, but travel writers do it for their job. Thus, thinking about your job not as an obligation but as something that can be enjoyable is half the battle. Someday we may invent robots that do all the work for us. But we will still be doing many of the same activities we now do as leisure. Thus, if you are not enjoying your job, perhaps you need to change jobs, or change your attitudes to your job.

  Depending on whether people love or hate their jobs, this facet of their life can add to their psychological wealth or to their poverty. Because most people spend so much of their adult lives working, it becomes imperative for psychological wealth to enjoy our work and be enriched by it. You will certainly earn money at your job, but it is up to you to ensure that you also earn psychological wealth at work.

  Part III

  Causes of Happiness and

  Genuine Wealth

  6

  Can Money Buy Happiness?

  Recently, a journalist from a well-known news magazine contacted us by email to find out the answer to a question that has fascinated people for centuries: Does money buy happiness? He told us that although scientists like to hedge their answers and give convoluted replies full of disclaimers, he wanted a simple yes or no answer. "Does money buy happiness?" he demanded to know, followed by "Please reply immediately." We thought about his question, and then deleted his email. It was a bit like demanding a yes or no answer to the question "Is Chinese food better than Mexican food?"

  In the real world, where many processes influence the outcomes we care about, the answer to the burning question of money and happiness is more complex than a simple yes or no. If it were that easy, people wouldn't be asking the question at all; the answer would be obvious to all of us. If, however, we were pressed by a friendly journalist to reduce the answer as simply as possible, we would respond to the question by saying, "Yes, money buys happiness, but there are important exceptions."

  When you think of money and happiness, you probably recall all the things money can buy - a nice house and car, fun vacations, and a good education for your kids. More money can help us get better medical care and a more comfortable retirement. There are intangibles, such as status, that wealthy people tend to receive. Therefore, it seems natural to assume that rich people will be happier than others. But money is only one part of psychological wealth, so the picture is complicated. Rich people may sacrifice other types of wealth to get money, and sometimes develop unhappy attitudes on their way to making their fortunes. Money can be a help in attaining psychological wealth, but it must be considered in the bigger picture of what makes people genuinely rich.

  The issue of money's influence on happiness is, perhaps, one of the most talked-about and hotly debated in the history of happiness. Some insist that the rich suburbs are sinks of dissatisfaction, while others scoff at the idea that the poor could be anything but miserable. But what does the evidence say about how money affects psychological wealth? Is it a necessity or a curse?

  Money Makes the World Go Round

  The question of whether money buys happiness is a timely one because there are more rich people alive today than at any other time in history. In the old days, wealth was largely reserved for those with noble blood or in command of large armies. Today, however, riches are more accessible to common people. Newspapers and magazines are full of stories of small-town boys and girls who grow up to be rich movie stars, musicians, television personalities, professional athletes, lottery winners, politicians, business owners, and bestselling novelists.

  The number of millionaires is growing rapidly, with more than 8 million in the United States alone. However, poverty is still with us, and the gap between rich and poor is growing in the wealthiest nations. Even in rich Western countries, homelessness and financial marginalization are pressing concerns. As the income gap between rich and poor widens daily, it makes sense to wonder which economic group - the rich or the poor - is the greater inheritor of happiness.

  Wealthy People

  In the mi
d-1980s, when Ed's happiness research was starting to gain momentum, he decided to investigate the topic of money and wellbeing by analyzing the happiness of the superrich. He sent off questionnaires to a hundred of those fabulously wealthy souls who had secured a spot for themselves on the prestigious Forbes list of richest Americans, these people whose net worth was, at the time, $125 million or more. These were people who owned jets, private islands, and large companies. Surprisingly, these economic juggernauts were not too busy to respond to a happiness survey, and forty-nine of them completed and returned it. Some of the wealthy participants even followed up with a phone call. Now, before we get to the punch line, take a moment and make a guess about the results. Were the extremely wealthy happy, or were they anxious and dissatisfied?

  It turns out that forty-seven of the forty-nine rich people who responded to Ed's survey were satisfied with their lives, significantly more than a control sample of average Americans taken from the same geographic locations. But, according to the participants in this study, it wasn't money that brought their happiness. None of the Forbes group listed vacation homes, swimming pools, or designer clothing as the major contributor to their emotional well-being. Instead, they mentioned the types of things you might expect from mere financial mortals: pleasing family relationships, helping the world, and fulfillment and pride from their work and accomplishments. The Forbes group wasn't wildly happy, just a bit more satisfied than regular folks.