Hedonic treadmill
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The hedonic treadmill, also known as hedonic adaptation, is the tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes. As a person makes more money, expectations and desires rise in tandem, which results in no permanent gain in happiness. Brickman and Campbell coined the term in their essay "Hedonic Relativism and Planning the Good Society" (1971), which appeared in M.H. Apley, ed., Adaptation Level Theory: A Symposium, New York: Academic Press, 1971, pp 287–302. The theory has consequences for understanding happiness as both an individual and a societal goal.
During the late 90s, the concept was modified by Michael Eysenck, a British psychology researcher, to refer to the hedonic treadmill theory which compares the pursuit of happiness to a person on a treadmill, who has to keep working just to stay in the same place.
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Theory
Humans rapidly adapt to their current situation, becoming habituated to the good or the bad. We are more sensitive to our relative status: both that which we recently have and that which we perceive others to enjoy.
Details
- Despite the fact that external forces are constantly changing our life goals, happiness for most people is a relatively constant state. Regardless of how good things get, people always report about the same level of happiness.
- The theory that the baseline of an individual's happiness is at least partially genetic is bolstered by the fact that identical twins are usually equally prone to depression.
- The hedonic treadmill theory is related to the Easterlin paradox, which states that rich people describe themselves as happier than poor people within a given country, but (once basic biological needs are met) rich countries are not happier overall than poor ones. The theory supports the argument that happiness does not derive from money in itself, but from relative differences in wealth compared to other people in a society.
See also
Further reading
- The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don't Need by Juliet B. Schor
