Does happiness drive motivation?

This post originally appeared on theSandglaz blog.

Are Happy People More Productive?

There is enough evidence, by now, to believe that happy people are more productive.

A series of studiesby Andrew J. Oswald and his team also provide evidence that happiness positively impacts productivity.

In one experiment, subjects have their happiness levels increased by being shown a clip of comedy routines.

Then they performed the same tasks as the subjects in the previous experiment.

Soaccording to these studieshappiness can increase productivity by 12 percent, while unhappiness can decrease productivity by 10 percent.

But why is that, and how can we make use of this information?

), but also as a function of psychological factors.

Simply put,people are happy when they subjectively believe themselves to be happy.

This shows that intrinsic motivation increases the level of subjective vitality, or our perceived energy level.

Autonomy can thus foster feelings of energy and well-being.

First, there is a positive effect on the happy team member, regardless of her relationship to others.

This is materialized in greater task persistence and enhanced cognitive functioning.

There is also a positive effect on others' responses to that team member.

They were also more likely to overgeneralize that person’s desirable traits.

What’s more, positive emotion increases optimism and perceived control.

Sadder but More Reflective?

There’s something to be said for those workers who might not be so cheerful.

People are generallybad at planning.

Ourcognitive biases, self-serving attributions and illusions of control make us overestimate the outcome of our actions.

They are also more likely to accurately perceive their levels of control.

This phenomenon is called ‘depressive realism’.

It doesn’t mean that people who aren’t happy can’t work well.

Indeed, our happiness level might fluctuate throughout the day.

So go ahead and daydream about what success looks like.

Chances are, you will bring it within reach.

Illustration byBoBaaa22(Shutterstock).

Photos byJD Hancock(Flickr),Anssi Koskinen(Flickr), andJohn(Flickr).

Want to see your work on Lifehacker?