Happiness and Academic Achievement: Evidence for Reciprocal Causality Patrick D. Quinn and Angela L. Duckworth Abstract Several cross-sectional studies have demonstrated an association between subjective well-being and school success (Gilman & Huebner, 2003; Verkuyten & Thijs, 2002). In a prospective, longitudinal study, we explored the direction of causality in this relationship. At the beginning of the school year, fifth grade students completed measures of well- being and an intelligence test. In the spring, we collected report card grades from school records. One year later, we repeated the same procedure but did not re-administer the intelligence test. Participants reporting higher well-being were more likely to earn higher final grades, even when controlling for IQ, age, and the previous year’s GPA. Furthermore, students earning higher grades tended to go on to experience higher well- being, controlling for IQ, age, and previous well-being. The findings suggest the relationship between well-being and academic performance may be reciprocally causal. Introduction The relationship between well-being and academic performance is not yet well- understood. Does school achievement come at the expense of happiness? Or, conversely, are better-performing students happier? And if so, can we assign causal weight to the relationship? Earlier research (e.g., Huebner, 1991a, Huebner & Alderman, 1993) failed to find a significant association between well-being and academic performance in cross-sectional studies, but recent findings have consistently linked academic achievement with well- being. In a 2006 cross-sectional study, Gilman and Huebner found that students of mean age 14.45 who reported high life satisfaction were more likely to report higher grade point averages (GPAs) than students with lower life satisfaction. Moreover, those students with high life satisfaction reported better attitudes towards school and towards teachers. Similarly, Verkuyten and Thijs (2002) found, in a sample of students aged 10 – 12, that life satisfaction correlated significantly (r = .12) with self-reported GPA. Indeed, in