Is Capacity for Pleasure Associated with Executive Career Success?

Abstract

Executives with a low capacity for pleasure were examined to determine if they evidenced less occupational and social success than those with normal or high capacity. Data on pleasure capacity and depressive symptoms were collected from 88 senior executive officers, and scores were compared with independent ratings of career success. The 11% of executives with serious work-related or personal problems showed significantly higher pleasure scores than the rest. It was hypothesized that the relatively high pleasure scores of the least successful executives reflected a defensive process of denial or reaction formation rather than an excessively joyful personality trait. A longitudinal study of executives was proposed to clarify whether the high pleasure capacity scores of the least successful executives changed situationally over time.