We are constantly in search of happiness and forget to enjoy what we already have. This is how hedonic adaptation works.The first kiss brings more pleasure and positive emotions than the fifth or thirtieth. The first ice cream tastes better than the same one eaten after a while. Or the joy experienced at the moment of buying a new car is erased from memory, and you are left only with sadness from the price of gasoline. This is due to the mechanism of hedonic adaptation.
After a positive event that caused violent emotions and made us experience happiness, we always return to our original state – what was before the peak of euphoria.The mechanism is also called “hedonistic treadmill”. This term was introduced in the early 70s by scientists Philip Brickman and Donald Campbell, who discovered a person’s tendency to return to the starting point of happiness, no matter what happens in his life.
1978 study by Brickman and colleagues confirmstheory: people who won a large amount in the lottery, after a year and a half, were not happier than those who won nothing. Although the moment they found out about their luck , their level of happiness was much higher than usual.
Therefore, what we have is always not enough for us. The increase in wages has been pleasing for a while, but then we want more. The delight of the first date gives way to everyday problems, and we begin to look for more vivid emotions, although more recently everything was more than satisfied with us.
In fact, adaptation works both ways: we get used to the bad as well as to the good.In the same study, there was another group of people paralyzed due to an accident. It turned out that after a while they returned to their usual level of life satisfaction. It turns out that you can really get used to everything, no matter what happens.
Why we get used to pleasure
V research American psychologists Sonya Lubomirsky and Kennon Sheldon consider two paths that lead to hedonistic adaptation. One is associated with a weakening of positive emotions from positive changes in life, the other – with an increased desire for even more positive emotions.
Positive Emotions Weaken
Imagine that you hitchhiked for a long time with tents and dreamed of being in a bubble bath, relaxing and washing yourself in warm water. By doing this for the first time in a long time, of course, you will be very happy. But later, foam bubbles and warm water will cease to deliver as much pleasure as then, after a grueling trip.
You no longer notice the pleasant joys in the familiar things. And you get less pleasure from it, because what was once a whole event has become commonplace.
We want more
Positive change becomes the norm, and you want more. For example, you have lost weight and in the mirror you see the result that pleases you. But you think that, having thrown off a couple more kilograms, you will be happier, and you just perceive the current weight as a new norm.
Is it possible to take control of happiness
Sonya Lubomirsky in the book The Psychology of Happiness. A New Approach ”says yes. Happiness depends 10% on circumstances, 50% on genetics, and 40% on your intentions.
Sonya Lubomirski
Psychologist, author of the book “The Psychology of Happiness. A new approach ”.
Therefore, the key to happiness lies not in changing your genetics (which is impossible), and not in changing circumstances (that is, to become richer, more attractive, or find friendlier colleagues, which also does not always work out), but in daily , purposeful actions.
How to experience the joy of everyday things again
Diversify life
Receive positive emotions from different spheres of life, look for new sources of pleasure and supplement the old ones. Add caramel syrup to your favorite coffee, which has become your morning routine, find new tasks that are interesting to you at work, try a new position in sex . Do everything so that the pleasures are not monotonous.
Appreciate what you have
People are constantly looking for happiness, but for some reason they do not think that they may already have it. You need to be grateful for what you have, be able to enjoy a delicious dinner, think not only about how to make more money , but also plan on what pleasant things you can spend your existing savings on. You can chase something big all your life without feeling that you have ever been happy at all. Think about what makes you happy here and now, and stop.
Try writing down a few things every day that you are grateful for today. You will find that there are many more pleasant moments in life than it seems. It’s just that you are already used to a lot.
Monitor your happiness level
Try to be aware of hedonic adaptation. At what moments in your life were you overwhelmed with joy, what did you enjoy? Contrast it with the present: what do you think will make you happy and why are you sure that without it you cannot be happy now? How long will the euphoria actually last?
Surely you will find in everyday life things that once seemed so necessary to you to be happy. Now you have them, so why did you stop enjoying them?
Hedonic adaptation is a part of our life. But if you understand how this mechanism works, you can take control of your own happiness and learn to enjoy even the usual things.
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