By economic yardsticks, Roger the Plumber should be feeling pretty low. Roger Peugeot, owner of the 14-employee Overland Park, Kan., plumbing company that bears his name, is part of a sector hit hard by shrunken credit and slumping sales. He has been forced to reduce staff and is battling new competition from other plumbers fleeing the construction industry.

    So why is Mr. Peugeot so happy? He genuinely likes fixing plumbing messes, for one thing, and despite the worst recession he has seen, 'I'm still excited to get up and go to work every day,' he says. He relishes running into people at the local hardware store whom he has helped in the past. And in hard times, he says, his fate is in his own hands, rather than those of a manager. 'Even when things get tough, I'm still in control,' he says.

    In the broadest, most-comprehensive survey yet of how occupation affects happiness, business owners outrank 10 other occupational groups in overall well-being, based on the landmark survey of 100,826 working adults set for release today. Defined as self-employed store or factory owners, plumbers and so on, business owners surpassed 10 other occupational groups on a composite measure of six criteria of contentment, including emotional and physical health, job satisfaction, healthy behavior, access to basic needs and self-reports of overall life quality.

    This puts Roger the Plumber well ahead of movers and shakers typically regarded as the top of the heap in society -- professionals such as doctors or lawyers, who ranked second, and executives and managers in corporations or government, who came in third -- according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, a collaboration between Gallup and Healthways, a Franklin, Tenn., health-management concern. This is despite business owners ranking below those more-prestigious occupations in physical health and access to basic needs, such as health care.

    The findings, psychologists say, reflect the importance of being free to choose the work you do and how you do it, the way you manage your time, and the way you respond to adversity. Regardless of occupational field, the survey suggests that seeking out enjoyable work and finding a way to do it on your own terms, with some control over both the process and the outcome, is likely for most people to fuel satisfaction and contentment.

    'Despite the recession, it still pays to be your own boss,' says Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Poll. The survey, adds John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 'reaffirms my view that the more control you have over your work, the happier you are.'

    At the bottom of the heap, transportation and manufacturing workers scored lowest on well-being. These occupations tend to foster conditions Niosh has identified as contributors to unhealthy stress: lack of control or participation in decision-making, conflicting or unclear job expectations, and hectic tasks with little inherent meaning.

    Management and executive jobs have gotten tougher, too, during the period the Gallup-Healthways data were gathered, the first eight months of this year. Beset by cost cuts and layoffs, corporate bosses at all levels now share more of these stress-inducing conditions.

    Business owners stand in stark contrast. Even in tough times, 'you do your own thinking and no one can tell you you're wrong,' says Edwin Locke, an industrial psychologist and professor emeritus of leadership and motivation at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. 'You make your own decisions, and if you're wrong, reality gives you the feedback,' he says.

    Another surprise from the survey: Farmers and other outdoor workers, from farmhands to forestry workers, scored No.1 among all groups in 'emotional health,' as measured mainly by the amount of smiling, laughter, enjoyment and happiness they report experiencing the previous day -- despite the fact that farmers ranked near the bottom in access to basic needs.

    如果单看经济指标，水管疏通公司Roger the Plumber的老板罗杰·波杰特（Roger Peugeot）理应心情低落才对。这家拥有14名雇员的企业位于堪萨斯州欧弗兰帕克，它所处行业也因信贷紧缩、销售下滑而受到了影响。波杰特不得不裁减雇员，并且和那些逃离建筑领域、转投水管疏通行业的新竞争对手争夺生意。

    那么，为什么波杰特还总是乐呵呵的呢？首先，他是真的喜爱疏通清理水管这项工作；其次，按照他的话说，虽然眼下是他所经历的最严重的经济衰退，但"每天起床上班还是让我感到很兴奋".他喜欢在当地五金店碰到以前的客户。他说，在困难时期，我的命运是掌握在自己、而不是哪个经理人手中的。他说，即便世道变得艰难了，我还能够控制。

    波杰特自己当老板，他说"每天起床上班还是让我感到很兴奋".一项针对100,826名员工进行的大范围调查显示，在什么职业的人幸福感最强的问题上，企业主的得分从整体上超过了其他十种职业。这里所指的企业主包括自营商店或工厂的所有人以及水管工等等。从情感及身体健康状况、工作满意度、良好行为习惯、对基本需求的实现程度以及自我汇报的整体生活质量这六个综合方面衡量，企业主的幸福程度超过了其他十种职业。

    这就使波杰特这样的小业主在幸福感指数的排名上远远超过了那些在社会中倍受推崇的高端职业人群，比如医生、律师、政府或企业高管等。在由盖洛普公司（Gallup Organization, Inc.）和田纳西州健康管理公司Healthways共同编制的这个盖洛普-Healthways幸福指数（Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index）中，企业主、律师和企业、政府领导分别排名前三，尽管企业主在身体健康以及对基本需求（如医疗护理）的实现程度这两个分项指标上不如那些占据了社会阶梯高层的人。

    心理学家指出，这些发现表明自由选择工作以及工作方式、自由选择时间管理方式以及自由选择如何应对困境对人来说具有多么重要的意义。这份调查显示，对绝大多数人来说，不论从事何种职业，在对过程和结果均有所控制的情况下，找到喜欢的工作和自己喜欢的工作方法都能提高其满意度和满足感。

    盖洛普公司主任编辑弗兰克·纽波特（Frank Newport）说，即便现在正在经历经济衰退，自己当老板还是有好处的。美国国家职业安全卫生研究所（NIOSH）主任约翰·霍华德（John Howard）也表示，这再次证实了我一贯的观点，即你对自己工作的控制感越强，你就越快乐。

    在排名靠后的行业中，运输业及制造业工人的幸福感指数排最末。在这些职业中充满了NIOSH所定义的有害压力：缺乏控制力或对决策的参与、矛盾或模糊的工作预期、工作任务重而又意义不大。

    盖洛普-Healthways调查所收集的数据表明，今年头八个月里，管理工作变得更具难度了。受困于成本削减及裁员的影响，各个阶层的公司老板们都更多地暴露于那些能带来压力的环境之中。

    而企业主的情况则和他们完全相反。工业心理学家、马利兰大学史密斯商学院领导与激励学名誉教授爱德温·洛克（Edwin Locke）说，即便是在困难时期企业主也可以自己进行思考，而且没有人跑过来说你做错了；你能自主决策，如果你错了，现实会给你反馈。

    此次调查中另一个出人意料的地方是，农民和其他户外工作者（包括雇农和林场工人）在情感健康的分项指标中排位最高，超过了所有人。该指标主要衡量一个人在之前一天中微笑、大笑、以及感到快乐和幸福的频次，尽管事实上农民在基本需求的实现程度方面排名几乎垫底。