A surface emitting laser is provided which can control a beam shape and can provide higher efficiency and higher power. The surface emitting laser includes a gain region that is provided between a first semiconductor multilayer film reflection mirror and a second semiconductor multilayer film reflection mirror, which are arranged so as to oppose to each other, and that has a first active layer and a second active layer. The surface emitting laser has a current constriction layer for constricting an electric current which is injected into the first active layer and the second active layer. The first active layer and the second active layer have different active layer structures from each other.