Can You Find Happiness at Work?

Do you look to work for satifaction and happiness?This is important because job performance is enhanced by job satisfaction. Behavioral geneticist believe that somewhere around 50 percent of differences in people who consider themselves happy and those that do not is rooted in our genetics. They do not miss the truth of the influence of other factors such as health , careers, and satisfaction with relationships.People who smile a lot; reported being happier. Smiling therefore can be one measure of happiness.

Even people who faked smiled were found to have less heart disease than people who did not smile. Researchers did not rule out there is an unknown genetic trait that causes people to be happier and have less heart disease. This may account for happy people live longer. Happier people also have more stable personalities, better cognitive skills, and enjoy their jobs more.

The strongest research evidence for a genetic link to happiness comes from a studied conducted by David Liken a professor at the University of Minnesota. They studied identical twins separated at birth and concluded that a least 60% of happiness reported by the participants was genetic in nature and not related to environment. The happiness scale they used was the same one used in the study of smiling, happiness, and heart disease.

An article that examined the issue of work happiness. It was entitled: Psychologists Search For Secret Of Happiness At Work,It was looked at the fact that people who were unhappy at work did not express job satisfaction. The Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology published a report on the topic in their April 1, 2010 edition. An assistant Professor

named, Nathan Bowling, and colleagues Kevin Eschleman and Qiang Wang looked at the results of 223 studies looking at job satisfaction and happiness. The studies they examined were done between 1967 and 2008. They found that job satifaction was a predominant factor in reporting a sense of satiffaction in your personal life. It was not the opposite way around ; personal happiness did not necessarily dictate work related happiness.

The more satisfied you were at your work life the more satified you would be in your personal life. They concluded that people who were more predisposed to be happy due to genetics or even evironment would express that happiness with a level of happiness in their daily work. They did not conclude that people who sought happiness through work only actually really found it. It seems that having a balanced life if which you seek happiness and act as though you are happy is more important then an intellectual commitment to be happy in your work.

We behave in ways that determine are emotional state, including the emotional state of happiness. It may seem to be a very subjective emotion ,but there is indication that at least half the happiness pie is genetic. We need not totally dispear if we inherit a lack of positive thinking genes , because intentional change in attitude to be happy , can make us at least %50 more happy than we are now. Happier people have less stressful lives. Less stressful lives lead to better careers . Better careers lead to more happiness. It can be a positive cyle and not a negative cyle.

NBC (February 10^th 2010)

This is an article on the correlation of heart disease and happiness.

Retrieved (May 2, 2010) from

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35441420/ns/health-heart_health/

. Forbes (September 9^th 2004)

This is an article on genetics and happiness.

Retrieved May 2, 2010 from

http://www.forbes.com/2004/09/23/cx_mh_0923happiness.html

Medical News Today (Apirl 5^th 2010)

This is an article on happiness at work.

Retrieved May 2, 2010 from

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/184442.php

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