![]() This would explain why, after achieving something and adapting, the next thing these people experience is a deeper emotional slump. However, there are many who gravitate to a base point that borders on unhappiness and helplessness. Having reached the climax of the sense of accomplishment, you return (descend) to your previous ‘fixed point of happiness’.įor some people, this point will be at an optimal level and they’ll quickly return to a healthy state. In her book, The How of Happiness, she explains how this fixed point of well-being is related to hedonic adaptation.įor example, when you set out to do something and you achieve it, you soon adapt to that achievement and, over the weeks, your feelings of euphoria and pleasure diminish. She claims that every person has a fixed point of happiness that has a genetic origin. Psychologist, Sonja Lyubomirsky elaborates on this particular subject. In fact, everyone interprets their reality in their own way and we all have our own attitudes and resources for dealing with life’s events. Psychology claims that it isn’t what happens or doesn’t happen to you that determines your happiness 100 percent. One thing that he made evident in this research was the impact that this psychological dimension has on absolutely all areas of our lives. In 1999, the psychologist and Nobel Prize winner, Daniel Kahneman, reflected on this subject in a book entitled Well-Being: Foundations of Hedonic Psychology. Also, why when something happens that you were looking forward to, you don’t always feel completely satisfied with it. It explains, among other things, why, although you’re earning increasingly more money you still feel it’s not enough. ![]() Because the truth is that this perception is something that defines you as a human being. Is there something pathological or problematic about it? Absolutely. The one in which you keep dreaming of achieving new goals, or you need more reinforcements to experience another peak of euphoria or intense well-being.Īre you hopelessly dissatisfied? Maybe. Hence, your feelings of happiness quickly fade and you return to your previous level. The hedonic treadmill theory (hedonic adaptation) claims that you usually adapt extremely quickly to your achievements. However, those feelings of success and fulfillment vanish in a short time and you feel empty. ![]() You feel adamant that when you reach certain goals you’ll feel completely fulfilled. However, often, when you achieve them, your pleasure is only fleeting and soon comes to an end. You spend your life fantasizing about things you want to achieve. In fact, the only thing you achieve are feelings of tiredness and frustration. You go around and around on a wheel that doesn’t allow you to move forward or achieve what you want. Sometimes, you experience the strange sensation of being on a treadmill that goes nowhere. This is what the concept of the hedonic treadmill (hedonic adaptation), also called the hamster wheel theory, suggests. It seems that it’s getting harder and harder for us to feel good and have satisfying lives. “Everything will be better when I have my new house/ promotion/ better car/ partner who really loves me…”.
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