Feeling happy has some serious perks: it promotes healthy relationships, fosters career success and helps you navigate challenging times. It also has a ripple effect, benefiting those close to you as well as complete strangers.
Skeptics of the happiness claim sometimes focus on relatively weak conceptions of happiness, such as the notion that a bare majority of positive affect suffices for happiness (an idea that few hedonists or emotional state theorists would endorse). But other concerns can also arise.
2. Safety
Most studies cited by safety leaders connect better performance to employee engagement, not happiness. It’s understandable, because “engagement” sounds like a business imperative. “Happiness” sounds more like a fuzzy, frivolous philosophy that might not translate to fewer incidents at work.
It’s true that genetics and life circumstances play a role in how happy you feel. But a large share of your happiness is within your power to choose, including getting enough sleep, engaging in meaningful relationships, exercising regularly and practicing meditation.
Happiness also creates a number of pathways to safety. People who are happier tend to be more aware of their surroundings and less likely to overlook hazards. They are more likely to work together safely, whether it’s two riggers steadying each other on a ladder, or an electrician marking his work so someone who follows knows what they did. These factors alone make a strong case for making worker happiness a major—and underappreciated—component of any safety strategy.