Further thoughts on the happy–productive worker

Ledford's commentary on our paper titled, ‘Affect and favorable work outcomes: Two longitudinal tests of the happy–productive worker thesis’, is a thought-provoking attempt to place the research and its findings in a larger theoretical context. His comments address three general questions. First, why have so many academics and practitioners alike been willing to accept the existence of the happy–productive worker relationship? Second, to what extent do Wright and Staw's findings shed additional light on the happy–productive worker thesis? Finally, what are the study's implications for future research? We will comment briefly on each of these issues. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.