Thinking about it makes happiness continue. By being appreciative, people are reminded of the good event. It also stops people from wanting more.Īppreciation is when a person is happy with what they have. The surprise makes getting used to the event difficult. Variety is when happiness comes at a surprise even after the event has happened. For example, the Hedonic Adaptation Prevention Model (HAP) says that variety and appreciation can make happiness last. There are ways to prevent hedonic adaptation. When people become used to harming others, they may no longer think that it is wrong. Each time was more harmful than the last. For example, people in the Milgram experiment were asked to harm another person multiple times. Moral values īeing used to an event may change what people think is right and wrong. People who are not used an event can think jobs, marriage, and where they live will affect their happiness more than it really will. For example, healthy people think unhealthy people are less happy than they really are. Quality of decision-making Ī person who is not used to an event often thinks it is more important than it really is. This treadmill effect means that the more a person gets, the more they want. People look for other things to stay happy. Good events make people happy in the moment. This helps people learn from past events to survive in the present.Īpplications Treadmill effect They may try to prevent a similar event from happening. However, adaptation helps people see what can be changed. They see no way to make the situation better. As bad events become less strong, people are more likely to make changes to better the situation.įor example, the death of a partner can make people very sad. Hedonic adaptation can change the way people see their situation. This often happens unconsciously, without the person knowing. It protects people from dangers to their health. Hedonic adaptation is a part of the “psychological immune system”. Long periods of fear and worry for example, can harm the body and the mind, leading to disease and illness. This protects people from difficult situations and helps them survive in the present. It helps control the effects of bad events. In some situations, it may decrease.įunctions Protection įrom an evolutionary position, hedonic adaptation is useful. Happiness may not completely return to its point before the event. However, some strong or long-lasting bad events, such as losing a job or partner, result in less adaptation. Their happiness returns to exactly where it was before the event soon after the it happens. Most studies show that people usually adapt to good events quickly and completely. However, people do not get used to all events. Hedonic adaptation also comes from neurochemical changes: changes in the brain that make good and bad feelings less strong. Thinking about an event less is the main way adaptation happens. These changes are what a person likes and wants, and what they do and do not think about. Hedonic adaptation comes from cognitive changes: changes in how a person thinks. How happy a person is may depend on personality: how a person usually acts and feels. So, happiness returns to a point where the person is happy. However, new studies show that most people are happy most of the time. Scientists thought that happiness returns to a neutral point: where a person is not happy nor sad. This is how people get used to events over time.

Second, happiness usually returns to a point that stays the same. But over time, because they are already happy, their happiness does not change. This means that good events make people happy in the moment. First, how people feel about an event depends on how they feel before it happened.

Hedonic adaptation contains two important ideas. These studies show that it may not be possible to increase happiness for a long period of time. By the second year, their happiness was the same as before they got married. For example, a 15-year-long study shows that married people in Germany were much more happy after marriage, but only for a short period of time. Also, those who could not walk were not much less happy than those who could. Scientists found that lottery winners were not happier than those who did not win.

Hedonic adaption