The role of happiness in the effect of job satisfaction on employee performance

The thesis study aims to research and examine the role of happiness through the impact of job satisfaction on performance and reveal the effects of employee happiness which is a current research topic in the field of positive organizational behavior. The importance of the study is to contribute to the literature by questioning the role of happiness in the effect of job satisfaction on performance, in relation -to the question of- "are happy employees more productive?". Happiness is defined in the TDK glossary as "pride felt being able to reach all the aspirations in a complete and continuous manner ; prosperity, well-being, eudaemonia, bliss and felicity". Researchers describe happiness in general as follows; "happiness is a function of the harmony between events and circumstances in the individual's surroundings and the established tendencies and behaviors within". Besides this function, it is likely to be redesigned with deliberately chosen voluntary behavior(s). Preliminary study which is held on well-being at an organizational level, asks employees whether they feel good or bad when they are doing their job at work. It is found out that those events which cause good feelings and which cause bad feelings are independent. In following studies, it is observed that the events that cause good feelings increase the motivation of the employees and quality, but also reduce the layoffs. However, despite the efforts focused on job satisfaction, "happiness" within the organization has not been much studied in academic researches. During the past 20 years surveys mostly have been evaluated on some forms of happiness or positive feelings based on experiences in workplaces. Many of them have focused on positive emotions, positive states and attitudes in the workplace, but the phenomenon of "happiness at work" as a whole was not addressed. As per the framework of this study, the evaluation, translation and adaptation of questionnaire of the appropriate scales were held in the Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences of University of Pavia in Italy. After the pilot study, 409 valid replies were received during June and July 2017. Findings were obtained as; happiness at work positively affects on employee performance, fully mediates between job satisfaction and performance, job satisfaction predicts performance only through developing contribution of happiness at work. The study with the same scales was repeated in Turkey in December 2017-January 2018 and total of 550 valid responses were received. As per findings of analysis obtained in Turkey ; the positive effect of happiness on employee performance is achived through job satisfaction. It has been noted that, "happiness at work" does not have a direct effect on performance however, it provides a full moderating contribution by the means of the interaction between job satisfaction and performance. According to these findings, both studies provide new evidence that it is possible to improve employee performance with happiness at work. Keywords: Job Satisfaction, Positive Feelings, Negative Feelings, Happiness at Work, Employee Performance