Hedonic Adaptation & The Everlasting Pursuit of Happiness

In this post, we will talk about hedonic adaptation. What is it exactly? And, what is its effect on our everlasting pursuit of happiness?

Hedonic Adaptation Defined

Scientists define hedonic adaptation as the psychological process by which people become accustomed to a positive or negative stimulus, such that the emotional effects of that stimulus are attenuated over time.

In layman’s term, it just means that we get used to changes in life experiences. Changes, whether good or bad, lose their effects or impact on us over time. With that, we just go back to how happy or unhappy we felt before.

A study with a very catchy title shed light on this. The paper, “Lottery Winners and Accident Victims: Is Happiness Relative?”, made the following conclusions:

• People who won the lottery, which we would mostly believe would be happier, returned to their previous levels of happiness after a year or so, of winning.
• People who experienced a loss, as serious as being in an accident and losing the use of their legs, also tend to return to their pre-accident levels of happiness after a period of time.

And a more generally relatable example, this is how the toys or gadgets we begged our parents before, ended up unloved and unplayed a few weeks after we had them.

Scientist also call this the “hedonic treadmill”. A fitting term, we could say, because it just feels like we’re running endlessly, just to find out there we’re still in the exact same spot.

If we look at it more deeply, we’ll know that hedonic adaptation is a double edged sword. It enables us to both “get over our losses” and “take our blessings for granted”. With it being either boon or bane, what then?

Is there really a FIXED Happiness Set Point?

According to research, the answer is a big NO. Our happiness level is really a pie made up of:

• genetic set point (50%)
• external circumstances (10%)
• volition – our actions, thoughts, and attitudes (40%)

Though our genes play a big part, it’s just a part and not the 100%. Our actions, thoughts and attitudes, give us plenty of room to improve. Forty percent of our happiness is in our full control. So let’s move our levels up!

Getting Off the Treadmill

Knowledge is power.

-Sir Francis Bacon, 1597

Knowledge is power. Now that we know our tendencies, we have better control over it. And that is why I created this website, to help us know what to do and hopefully, help motivate you (and me) to do it consciously and consistently.

Hedonic adaptation allows us to move on from the bad things, and that’s great. But should we allow it to just let us run on the treadmill, chasing rainbows forever? Of course not, that is why we need to do these things:

1. Inject some variety in your day.

Variety is the spice of life and a good way to limit hedonic adaptation’s downward pull. If getting used to something is a culprit to our unhappiness, then the easy answer is to not just get used to something. And how do you do that? These will get you started:

• Make time for simple pleasures. Drink a cup of coffee. Play with your kid. Watch a funny Youtube clip.
• Invest in experiences, not things. New stuff stays around to annoy you, but I haven’t met a person who got used to an annual vacation with their favorite people.
• Learn a hobby or better, hobbies. It doesn’t really matter what these are. As long as you enjoy it or benefit from it, it will do.

2. Practice gratitude always.

Gratitude…again. Practicing gratitude is an excellent way to remind us of the good things present in our lives. This intentional “paying attention” allows us to feel the excitement and joy we felt during the first time we received these blessings. It make us FEELING BLESSED all over again.

I got started by listing what I’m thankful of earlier this year, and I think every one should get started too.

Chase no more…

I came across a beautiful quote about happiness on Pinterest, though unfortunately, I didn’t catch who originally said it. It goes like this:

The happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.

– someone I want to know

And I think that’s exactly right, happiness is NOT about focusing on what’s NEXT, happiness is appreciating what’s ALREADY HERE.

Thanks for reading!

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