Abstract

For a long time, the notions of “work” and “happiness” have, for the most part, been mutually exclusive. Work was where you went to do something, gain an income, and then you went home, where you had free time. According to Aristotle, happiness consists of achieving, through the course of a whole lifetime, all the goods—health, wealth, knowledge, friends, and other concepts—that lead to the perfection of human nature and to the enrichment of human life. We spend on average about one third of our life at work, so it makes reasonable sense to understand more about what represents happiness at work and what drives it. This chapter deals with Happiness at Work with reference to a survey of colleagues and associates of the authors based in Australia. We examine the results of the survey using the definition by Aristotle regarding happiness. Data in the survey was also collected on demographics, current levels of happiness at work, and whether or not the respondents are happy in Self and were happy as a child. There is a modest total of 49 responses to the survey from about 180 surveys sent representing about a 27% response rate.