Instant introspection: are you a "success spoiler"?

Chances are yes if you agree with the following statements:

* When I succeed at something important, I shrug it off.

* I have trouble celebrating my success, even if I worked hard for it.

* I feel worse the day after I've conquered a major feat.

The way you react to your accomplishments may be tied to your level of self-esteem, according to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Joanne V. Wood, Ph.D., and her colleagues at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, evaluated more than 2,200 subjects, asking some participants about their reactions to success. The killjoys who downplayed achievements reported being in worse moods the next day and also had lower self-esteem than those who relished their feat. The study found people with high self-esteem were especially likely to savor victories.

Can people change the way they react (for instance, from saying "It's not much of a raise" to "Woohoo! A raise!")? Sure. Says Wood, "It's possible that just the knowledge they may be dampening [their successes] while others are savoring [theirs] may help them change."

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