Hedonic Adaptation Examined - Is Lasting Happiness & Meaning an Illusion or Something Possible?

By Thinking Deeply with Ben

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What is Hedonic Adaptation and the Hedonic Adaptation Prevention Model? It seems like society tells us that after we look a certain way, marry a certain person, make enough money, get enough degrees, etc. we’ll find lasting meaning and happiness in life. But, why does it seem like no matter what we accomplish or no matter how hard we work we always no matter what we learn, end up feeling like how we started, always chasing the next thing the next experience of happiness and meaning in life? Researchers believe this has to do with a phenomenon called hedonic adaptation; the tendency for humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major recent positive or negative events or life changes. This is the reason why it appears lottery winners feel and paraplegics return to the same levels of happiness after the significantly good or bad event. If hedonic adaptation exists and our sense of well-being in life won’t change much no matter what happens to us,

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