A study reported in the March issue of Psychological Science points to heredity as the most important factor in determining a person’s predisposition to happiness. Psychologists at the University of Edinburgh worked with specialists at the Queensland Institute in Austria to conduct the study. They concluded that happiness is partly determined by personality traits and that both personality and happiness are largely hereditary.

Using a framework that psychologists use to rate personalities, called the Five-Factor Model, the researchers found that people who do not excessively worry and who are social and conscientious tend to be happier. The belief is that this personality mix can act as a buffer when bad things happen, according to the study’s authors, because those lucky enough to be born with this mix have an “affective reserve” of happiness that can be called upon in stressful times or in times of recovery.

The researchers say that although happiness has its roots in our genes, around 50 percent of the differences between people in their life happiness are still attributed to external factors such as relationships, health and careers. “Although happiness is subject to a large range on external influences we have found that there is a heritable component of happiness which can be entirely explained by genetic architecture of the personality,” said study leader Dr. Alexander Weiss of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language.

Happiness is linked to success in life, but studies show it isn’t just the success that makes us happy. Positive moods and emotions can lead people to think, feel and act in ways that help them to achieve their goals.

Source: Association for Psychological Science