Does happiness spread within organizations? Evidence from a field experiment in Norway

Torbjørn Hanson, Åshild A. Johnsen, Andreas Kotsadam and Alberto Prati

Abstract

We report the results from a large field experiment that tests if happiness spreads within an organizational setting, as predicted by the emotional contagion hypothesis. Although some studies have supported this hypothesis, no well-powered randomized controlled trial has ever tested it in the field. In collaboration with the Norwegian Armed Forces, we randomly assign over 1500 recruits to rooms during eight-week boot camps. Some recruits live with relatively happier peers while others live with relatively unhappier ones. We find no evidence of happiness convergence at the room level and reject even small contagion effects. We show that the null result is not explained by excessive stability in happiness, and prior studies in the same setting show that peer effects emerge for some non-emotional attitudes. These results call for a reconsideration of the presumed ubiquity of happiness spillovers, with subsequent implications for well-being models and policies.