WORK providing a route to happiness was the focus of a conference at the University of Hertfordshire this week.

The meeting was attended by a series of speakers including philosophers, historians, economists, social scientists and creative arts practitioners, who looked at what happiness means and how a greater depth of the state can be achieved.

A link between job satisfaction and performance was highlighted as the potential “Holy Grail” of happiness, at the gathering on Wednesday, entitled Happiness – Perspectives from the Social Sciences, Humanities and Creative Arts.

The conference, which ran from 12.30pm to 7.20pm, also highlighted the link between income and happiness, a study into life satisfaction among adolescent girls, and a philosopher’s view of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ unhappiness.