Are some personality types happier than others?

How happy are you?

Growing evidence tells us that ‘life outcomes’ like health, relationships, occupational performance and even income are influenced by well-being (also often called happiness).

But what is well-being? And is there a link between your well-being and your personality type?

These are just some of the questions asked – and answered – in our latest research.

Well-being in the workplace is a three-year international study on well-being which expands on Martin Seligman and Ed Deiner’s PERMA model (Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment) of well-being/flourishing.

Download the report now and get the latest insights.

For example:

• Who’s happiest? See which MBTI type scores highest for well-being (clue: it’s an N)
• Who’s least happy? See which MBTI type scores lowest for well-being (clue: it’s a J)
• Are women happier than men?

However, there’s much more to this report than measurements and data.

How to improve well-being at work

We focused on the workplace so we could turn the results into something practical and useful for people and organizations.

So, you’ll find tips and guidelines for improving well-being at work. And, because the research sample was global, the tips work for different geographical regions.

Here are a couple of highlights from the research.

• Autonomy improves well-being at work
  
  One of the big learning points from the survey is that autonomy is crucial to people’s well-being. See page 11 for the five most effective activities for well-being.
  
  Also, see which tips help specific MBTI types. For example, ENTJs improve well-being when they can ‘seek assignments that give them a sense of purpose’ and ‘align work goals with careergoals.’ Go to pages 12–14 to get general and work-related well-being tips for all 16 MBTI types.

• Women and men are equally happy at work … aren’t they?
  
  Our research found that women and men reported similar levels of workplace well-being. However, women reported higher scores for Engagement and Positive Emotions than men.
  
  Does this surprise you? Read more about this, and how age and occupation affect well-being, on page 5 of the report.

A global measure of well-being

More than 10,000 people took part in our survey, creating a comprehensive set of data. Respondents came from 131 countries, covering 6 different languages, 23 occupational categories and all 16 MBTI types (every respondent knew their MBTI type).

Want to find out more?

Download Well-being in the workplace and let us know how you use it to improve well-being, both for yourself and within your organization.

You can also drop by stand D75 at this year’s Festival of Work for a presentation on our research.