Research: Happiness is Critical in Education and Success

One of the most compelling truths about education is that happiness and agency are central to unlocking a learner's full potential. These principles form the bedrock of our approach to learning and growth.

I recently shared an article with Acton parents that has profoundly influenced my perspective on raising happy children: The Key to Raising a Happy Child. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend doing so (read it here). The research behind the article emphasizes a critical finding: agency leads to happiness.

Agency as the Foundation of Happiness

At Acton Academy, agency is core to our belief system. We believe learners thrive when they are in the driver’s seat of their own education. When learners have ownership over their goals, schedules, and achievements, they experience a sense of autonomy that leads to genuine joy and fulfillment.

This joy, in turn, sparks a love for learning. It’s a cycle: happiness in learning fosters curiosity, which fuels intrinsic motivation. And when learners are self-driven, there is no limit to what they can achieve. We do believe that through this they will live up to their potential and change the world! 

The "Happiness Advantage" in Action

Over the winter break, I read The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor. Achor’s work reveals a powerful truth: the traditional formula—work hard, become successful, then you’ll be happy—is fundamentally flawed. Instead, happiness must come first.

Achor’s research shows that happiness fuels performance, creativity, resilience, and productivity. In other words, cultivating happiness in learners doesn’t just make them feel good—it equips them with the tools to excel.

This philosophy is evident every day at Acton Academy. Instead of defining success as external achievements like grades or accolades, we emphasize inner growth, curiosity, and the joy of discovery. Happiness isn’t a reward at the end of the learning process; it’s the foundation that makes success possible.

Achor begins the book by describing a pervasive but flawed belief system:

If you observe the people around you, you'll find most individuals follow a formula that has been subtly or not so subtly taught to them by their schools, their company, their parents, or society. That is: If you work hard, you will become successful, and once you become successful, then you'll be happy. This pattern of belief explains what most often motivates us in life. We think: If I just get that raise, or hit that next sales target, I'll be happy. If I can just get that next good grade, I'll be happy. If I lose that five pounds, I'll be happy. And so on. Success first, happiness second.

The only problem is that this formula is broken.

If success causes happiness, then every employee who gets a promotion, every student who receives an acceptance letter, everyone who has ever accomplished a goal of any kind should be happy. But with each victory, our goalposts of success keep getting pushed further and further out, so that happiness gets pushed over the horizon.

Even more important, the formula is broken because it is backward. More than a decade of groundbreaking research in the fields of positive psychology and neuroscience has proven in no uncertain terms that the relationship between success and happiness works the other way around. Thanks to this cutting-edge science, we now know that happiness is the precursor to success, not merely the result. And that happiness and optimism actually fuel performance and achievement—giving us the competitive edge that I call the Happiness Advantage.

Waiting to be happy limits our brain's potential for success, whereas cultivating positive brains makes us more motivated, efficient, resilient, creative, and productive, which drives performance upward. This discovery has been confirmed by thousands of scientific studies and in my own work and research on 1,600 Harvard students and dozens of Fortune 500 companies worldwide. In this book, you will learn not only why the Happiness Advantage is so powerful, but how you can use it on a daily basis to increase your success at work. But I'm getting excited and jumping ahead of myself. I begin this book where I began my research, at Harvard, where the Happiness Advantage was born.

Joy as a Driver for Lifelong Learning

Achor’s findings also highlight that happiness enhances cognitive function, memory, and focus—making it a crucial element of the learning process. At Acton, we intentionally design our studios to prioritize joy in learning. Whether it’s through collaborative projects, hands-on quests, or opportunities to explore personal interests, learners engage in experiences that spark curiosity and excitement.

This joy creates a feedback loop: happiness leads to engagement, which leads to deeper learning and greater achievements. Over time, learners develop a love of learning that becomes self-sustaining, a critical component for lifelong success.

Resilience Through a Positive Mindset

Another key concept from The Happiness Advantage is resilience. Achor demonstrates that people who cultivate a positive mindset are better equipped to handle challenges and setbacks. This idea aligns with our emphasis on grit and growth mindset at Acton Academy.

Learners at Acton are encouraged to view failures not as endpoints, but as opportunities to grow. With a positive outlook and a supportive environment, they build the resilience needed to navigate obstacles both in school and in life.

Redefining Success in Education

By putting happiness first, we challenge the traditional notions of success in education. At Acton Academy, success isn’t measured by test scores or grades; it’s measured by growth, character, and the development of self-driven learners who love what they do.

The Happiness Advantage reminds us that this approach is backed by science. Happiness isn’t just a feel-good concept—it’s the key to unlocking potential and driving success. And at Acton Academy, we see this truth play out every day.

If you’d like to learn more about how Acton Academy transforms education by blending learner-driven principles with the best of Montessori, Reggio Emilia, and Waldorf philosophies, contact us or schedule a visit. Let us show you how we’re redefining what success in education truly means.