ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the first six of the Top Twelve happiness features in jobs: Personal influence: using ones abilities: demands and goals: variety: clear requirements and outlook: and social contacts. A business manager once told us that the least happy people he met were entrepreneurs who kept on wanting to be "big" in business. More than 90% of part-time British women workers report they are happy with their part-time status – they have found an acceptable "work–life balance." Positive carry-over has been studied in terms of happy workers' after-work behaviors, bringing home cheerfulness and a wish to join in family projects. The issue for job feature 4 is once again to find the "happy medium." Researchers have found that people unhappy in their jobs often point to ambiguities of these kinds: they may need more clarity about the requirements of their job and/or more feedback about their performance.
