Background
Earlier research on happiness at work has concerned mainly employees. To complement this research, we examined the wellbeing of business leaders, who have a direct influence on every aspect of their business. CEOs navigate generally in a constantly changing and rather unpredictable environment and their happiness may play a crucial role in the overall business success.
Hypotheses/Research Questions
The aim of this pilot study was to find out how CEOs describe and experience happiness. We were interested in the level of happiness and stress as well as in the interplay between them.
Sample Characteristics and Sample Size
Our sample consisted of 105 Finnish CEO´s (53,6% female, 46,7% male). Most of them (N=54) had worked as a CEO over six years.
Design
Respondents were invited to answer an internet-based questionnaire via personal invitation. We asked them to evaluate experienced happiness and stress during the last six months on average, using a five-point scale. They were also given an opportunity to explore their relationship to happiness through open-ended questions.
Results
We were interested in how CEOs relate to happiness, what they think of it. In line with earlier research there was a negative correlation (r= -.27) between happiness (M= 3.90 SD= 0,89) and stress (M= 3.60 SD= 1,07). Our data showed that a total of 21.9% of CEOs reported same value (4 or 5) on both happiness and stress at the same time. Themes that clearly emerged from the answers to the open-ended questions regarding what happiness is, were: accomplishments, other people and relationships, sense of balance, and sense of meaning.
Scientific Contribution
Our results complement existing research by taking a closer look at the wellbeing of CEOs who work as leaders and decision makers. Further research is needed to understand the found happiness / stress paradox better.