Shang-Ming Huang
Department of Counseling and I/O Psychology Ming Chuan University
Chih-Long Yen
Department of Counseling and I/O Psychology Ming Chuan University
The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of present happy businesses selections, and to test the convergent validity between subjective and objective well-being. Due to the emphasis on positive psychology and healthy workplaces, there have been growing concerns on evaluating the degree of well-being that organizations can provide for their employees. Therefore, “happy business'”selection mechanisms are booming. However, the authors found that the selection criteria of “happy businesses” was mostly based on objective criteria which may ignore the subjective feelings of employees. This study used pair-design to compare the subjective well-being of employees of happy businesses with their counterparts, and to test whether the objective selection criteria reflect subjective the well-being of employees. One hundred and thirteen employees of ‘happy businesses’ and one hundred and twenty-eight employees of general (not chosen as “happy”) businesses participated in the study. No significant differences of subjective well-being between happy businesses and general businesses were found. The results showed that the present happy businesses selection criteria cannot adequately reflect the subjective well-being of employees. Also, our results imply that subjective and objective well-being might be distinct constructs. The authors suggest that subjective criteria should be included in future “happy business” selection procedures.
keywords: happiness, job satisfaction, objective well-being, subjective well-being