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Everyone started doing more positive things in the workplace, says Lyubomirsky. Even the
observers began to act more generously toward others. Everybody paid it forward.
Other workplace-based happiness interventions yielded equally encouraging results. At Hitachis
office in Tokyo, Lyubomirsky and her colleague asked several employees to write down three things
that had gone well each week; they also asked them to wear a small electronic badge to monitor
their movements.
As expected, the employees displayed an increase in happiness but that wasn't all. The electronic
monitors showed that the employees became more mobile as their happiness increased. In essence,
their happiness created a surge in energy, particularly in the morning. This energy tended to peak
early, allowing employees to be more productive while working fewer hours.
And oddly, these happy, dynamic employees actually spoke less to their co-workers at the office.
Happier people have been found to be more sociable, Lyubomirsky says, but our experiments
suggest thats not always true. Sometimes happiness allows us to focus more on workand cut the
chatter.
In fact, much of Lyubomirskys work explodes common myths and misunderstandings about
happiness.
Many recent studies suggest that having children makes couples less happy, due to the strain on
leisure, finances, and marital contentment. But the truth is not so simple. Lyubomirsky has
discovered that, on the whole, parents are happier than non-parents though their happiness ebbs
and flows, based on circumstances.
A parent in the presence of his child, for instance, is happier than a parent whose child is absent.
Parents of younger children are less happy than their childfree peers. And married parents are
relatively happier, as are older parents, who tend to have more resources.
But parents with lots of resourcesextremely wealthy parents, in other wordsappear to be
significantly less happy than parents with moderate resources.
Parents with the most resources also have the highest opportunity costs, explains Lyubomirsky.
They feel their time is more valuable, and they fill a lot of different roles. So theyre not especially
happy when they spend time with their kids they question whether they should be doing
something else.
As Lyubomirskys research into parenting illustrates, theres no singular recipe for joy. But many of
us can boost our contentment levels through such small acts as paying a compliment to a co-worker,
spending more time with our kids and taking a bit of time each week to reflect on what's going right
in our lives
No single strategy will work for everyone, says Lyubomirsky. But everyone can find a strategy
that works for them.