Define hedonic adaptation4/16/2023 ![]() ![]() And then we’ll desire something else, or simply more of it, work hard to get it, and again, once we have it we’ll adapt quickly, our joy will fade away and we’ll start at zero all over again. We desire something, work hard to earn it, and once we have it we’ll adapt and be as dissatisfied as before. You see, no matter what happens to us, we’re likely to adapt to it pretty quickly.īecause of that adaptation process, we find ourselves in a vicious cycle: Within a year or so of being disabled, they also returned to their original happiness level.”Įven such extreme events do not change our state of happiness for more than a year. Surprisingly, the same was true for people who became paraplegic. Within a year, these lucky winners returned to approximately the same level of happiness they’d experienced before their windfall. “There was a famous study conducted that tracked people who’d won the lottery-what many people think of as the ticket to the magic kingdom of joy. Nope, as author Marci Shimoff explains in her book Happy for No Reason: Or becoming paraplegic? Will that make you less happy for a long time? What about winning the lottery? Will that make you happier for a long time? You take those things for granted now and probably long for a wider-and-curved-screen TV, the Master’s degree, or another job. Look around yourself, do you see anything you once bought/earned/won and thought this would make you happier? That wide-screen TV, your Bachelor’s degree, or the employee of the month medal? Chances are high that you have adapted. The science of happiness tells us that it looks something like this: Be happy first, then you’ll do great work, and become more successful. First, you need to finish your degree and then you can be happy.” There will be new goals, as I said to myself, “This is nothing. Long story short, I should have known long ago that reaching goals alone won’t make you happy. So I sat there, without the expected feelings, and didn’t know what to do. Sure, I was glad it was over, but I missed the great happy feelings. The exams had been written, and I’ve had pretty good feelings over the results, but I felt empty instead of happy. And I thought that once I’m done, I’ll feel great, I’ll be happy.īut I wasn’t. The goal wasn’t to get straight A’s, my goal was to pass all the exams with a minimum of learning time invested. I remember when I studied for my university exams. I bet you’ve observed this in your own life. With this formula, we’ll never get to happiness, as it keeps getting pushed further away. We do great work, have bigger successes, but instead of becoming happier, we just set new goals. Work overtime -> Get promoted -> Be happy!.Study hard -> Straight A’s (or just pass) -> Be happy!.Our idea of happiness has long been like this: If I do great work, then I’ll become more successful, and then I’ll be happier. Sorry to tell you, but we’ve grown up with the wrong happiness formula burned in our minds. Our Happiness Formula Is Completely Wrong Luckily, the Stoic exercise negative visualization can help. We’ll always adapt and want something new or some change with the belief it’ll elevate our happiness state. ![]() The sad truth is, we won’t get happy this way. And even if things seem so shiny when we desire them, once we have them, we take them for granted, get bored with them, and want something else. Actually, it’s a phenomenon called hedonic adaptation and we all fall prey to it. Chances are high you’ve experienced it, too. I didn’t appreciate it anymore after a while. I remember the remote controlled monster truck I once wanted at all costs. In many cases, joy has faded away quickly… ![]() Have you ever bought something you really wanted? ![]()
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