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    Hedonic adaptation

    享乐适应

    Phenomenon
    Also called
    Hedonic treadmill

    Hedonic adaptation is the tendency for emotional reactions to good or bad events to fade over time, so that happiness drifts back toward its earlier level. In 1971 Brickman and Campbell likened it to a “hedonic treadmill.”[2]

    Satisfaction rose to about 7.5 in the year of the marriage, then fell back year by year; five years on it was about 7.25, slightly below the 7.3 of five years before.Satisfaction was already falling in the years before, dropped to about 6.0 in the year of the loss, then climbed back; five years on it was about 6.8, still below the 7.25 of five years before.Satisfaction fell for years before the divorce, was lowest in the year before it and the year of it (about 6.4), then recovered a little; five years on it was about 6.6, still below the 6.9 of five years before.Satisfaction dropped to about 6.3 in the year of the job loss and returned to about 6.8 the next year, then barely changed, staying below the 7.1 of the earlier years.

    Average life satisfaction in a long-running German panel study, from 5 years before to 5 years after marriage, widowhood, divorce or unemployment; values read from Figure 2 of Diener and colleagues (2006). The vertical axis shows only the range 5.5 to 8; gray lines are the other three events. Use the buttons in the figure to compare
    Average life satisfaction in a long-running German panel study, from 5 years before to 5 years after marriage, widowhood, divorce or unemployment; values read from Figure 2 of Diener and colleagues (2006). The vertical axis shows only the range 5.5 to 8; gray lines are the other three events. Save as image (PNG)

    Key points

    • Adaptation happens mainly to constant or repeated conditions, which helps explain why stable life circumstances add little to lasting happiness; see Happiness pie (50-10-40).[3]
    • A widely cited 1978 study found lottery winners were no happier than controls. Its samples were small: 22 winners, 22 controls and 29 people paralyzed in accidents.[1]
    • Often overlooked: the paralyzed group was clearly less happy. A later reanalysis put the gap with controls at about 0.75 standard deviations.[2]
    • Adaptation is not always complete. After widowhood, unemployment, divorce or severe disability, life satisfaction can stay below its earlier level for years.[2]

    An example

    Jay moves into a bigger apartment and feels happy every time he comes home. Six months later the extra space feels ordinary, his mood is back where it was before the move, and he starts browsing listings in a nicer neighborhood.

    Misreadings and limits

    A common misreading is that everyone has a fixed happiness set point and always returns to it. A 2006 revision found that set points are usually above neutral, differ between people and can change, and that people vary widely in how fast and how fully they adapt; some never do.[2]

    Sources

    1. 1 Brickman, P., Coates, D., & Janoff-Bulman, R. (1978). Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative?. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36(8), 917–927. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.36.8.917
    2. 2 Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., & Scollon, C. N. (2006). Beyond the hedonic treadmill: Revising the adaptation theory of well-being. American Psychologist, 61(4), 305–314. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.61.4.305
    3. 3 Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 111–131. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.9.2.111

    Last checked against sources: October 26, 2026