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Some people believe that earning the most money will make them incredibly happy. What they probably don't know is that being incredibly happy may not earn them the most money.

A new study finds that when it comes to financial success, you're better off being a moderately happy person rather than someone who's chronically ecstatic.

Researchers at the University of Virginia, the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, and Michigan State analyzed several sets of data in a paper recently published in Perspectives on Psychological Science. Their conclusion: Mildly happy people -- those who rank themselves a 7 or 8 on a life-satisfaction scale of 1 to 10 -- achieve more than the blissful 10s.

"The people in our study who are most successful in terms of income, education, and career are mildly happy most of the time," said Ed Diener, a psychology professor at the University of Illinois.