When asked "At your company, are the highest-paid employees also the happiest?," 52 percent responded "Definitely not" while 48 percent responded "Definitely."

A recent Gallup Poll of Americans found a correlation between income and "personal satisfaction and happiness." Specifically, it found that those who made over $75,000 per year were likely to be happier and more satisfied than those who made between $30,000-$74,999 per year, who in turn were happier and more satisfied as a group than those who made less than $30,000 per year.

Of course, one key difference in our poll question is that we asked respondents about their perceptions of "the highest-paid employees"--which are not necessarily respondents themselves, but others within their company. It could be that for many employees, more money translates to more responsibility, which results in showing more outward and discernable signs of stress while on the job. The results could further reveal that HR professionals are keen observers of such stress at work. (It's also possible that your editor is reading a bit too much into the results.)

The Compensation.BLR.com poll included 242 respondents.