The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success? Sonja Lyubomirsky, Laura King, Ed Diener Numerous studies show that happy individuals are successful across multiple life domains, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health. The authors propose a conceptual model suggesting that the happiness-success link exists not only because success makes people happy, but also because positive affect (PA) engenders success. Three classes of evidence—cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental—are documented to test their model. Relevant studies are described and their effect sizes combined meta-analytically. The results reveal that happiness is associated with and precedes numerous successful outcomes, as well as behaviors paralleling success. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that positive affect—the hallmark of well-being—may be the cause of many of the desirable characteristics, resources, and successes correlated with happiness. Limitations, empirical issues, and important future research questions are discussed. Keywords: happiness, subjective well-being, positive affect, positive emotions, meta-analysis Research on well-being consistently reveals that the characteristics and resources valued by society correlate with happiness. For example, marriage, a comfortable income, superior mental health, and a long life all covary with reports of high happiness levels. Such associations between desirable life outcomes and happiness have led most investigators to assume that success makes people happy. This assumption can be found throughout the literature in this area. The authors argue that the alternative causal pathway—that happy people are likely to acquire favorable life circumstances—is at least partly responsible for the associations found in the literature. The authors propose that positive affect (PA) engenders success. Positively-valenced moods and emotions lead people to think, feel, and act in ways that promote both resource building and involvement with approach goals. Positive emotions signify that life is going well, the person's goals are being met, and resources are adequate. In these circumstances, people are ideally situated to "broaden and build." Positive emotions produce the tendency to approach rather than to avoid and to prepare the individual to seek out and undertake new goals. Thus, the success of happy people rests on two main factors: first, because happy people experience frequent positive moods, they have a greater likelihood of working actively toward new goals while experiencing those moods. Second, happy people are in possession of past skills and resources, which they have built over time during previous pleasant moods. The authors review evidence suggesting that happy people tend to be successful and accomplished across multiple life domains. They argue that happiness is linked to successful outcomes not only because success leads to happiness, but also because positive affect engenders success. The authors document several types of evidence in their article to most rigorously test the idea that happiness leads to success. They review the first three classes of evidence (Types A, B, and C) and are organized around five focal questions arising from these three categories. The authors conclude that the correlations generatedThe Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success? Sonja Lyubomirsky, Laura King, Ed Diener Numerous studies show that happy individuals are successful across multiple life domains, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health. The authors propose a conceptual model suggesting that the happiness-success link exists not only because success makes people happy, but also because positive affect (PA) engenders success. Three classes of evidence—cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental—are documented to test their model. Relevant studies are described and their effect sizes combined meta-analytically. The results reveal that happiness is associated with and precedes numerous successful outcomes, as well as behaviors paralleling success. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that positive affect—the hallmark of well-being—may be the cause of many of the desirable characteristics, resources, and successes correlated with happiness. Limitations, empirical issues, and important future research questions are discussed. Keywords: happiness, subjective well-being, positive affect, positive emotions, meta-analysis Research on well-being consistently reveals that the characteristics and resources valued by society correlate with happiness. For example, marriage, a comfortable income, superior mental health, and a long life all covary with reports of high happiness levels. Such associations between desirable life outcomes and happiness have led most investigators to assume that success makes people happy. This assumption can be found throughout the literature in this area. The authors argue that the alternative causal pathway—that happy people are likely to acquire favorable life circumstances—is at least partly responsible for the associations found in the literature. The authors propose that positive affect (PA) engenders success. Positively-valenced moods and emotions lead people to think, feel, and act in ways that promote both resource building and involvement with approach goals. Positive emotions signify that life is going well, the person's goals are being met, and resources are adequate. In these circumstances, people are ideally situated to "broaden and build." Positive emotions produce the tendency to approach rather than to avoid and to prepare the individual to seek out and undertake new goals. Thus, the success of happy people rests on two main factors: first, because happy people experience frequent positive moods, they have a greater likelihood of working actively toward new goals while experiencing those moods. Second, happy people are in possession of past skills and resources, which they have built over time during previous pleasant moods. The authors review evidence suggesting that happy people tend to be successful and accomplished across multiple life domains. They argue that happiness is linked to successful outcomes not only because success leads to happiness, but also because positive affect engenders success. The authors document several types of evidence in their article to most rigorously test the idea that happiness leads to success. They review the first three classes of evidence (Types A, B, and C) and are organized around five focal questions arising from these three categories. The authors conclude that the correlations generated