'Chronic happiness' the key to success

The key to success may be "chronic happiness" rather than simply hard work and the right contacts, psychologists have found.

Many assume a successful career and personal life leads to happiness. But psychologists in the US say happiness can bring success.

Researchers from the universities of California, Missouri and Illinois examined connections between desirable characteristics, life success and well-being in more than 275,000 people.

They found that happy individuals were predisposed to seek out new goals in life, leading to success, which also reinforced their already positive emotions.

The psychologists addressed questions such as whether happy people were more successful than unhappy people, and whether happiness came before or after a perceived success.

Writing in Psychological Bulletin, published by the American Psychological Association, they concluded that "chronically happy people" were generally more successful in many areas of life than less happy people.