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Concept

Slowing hedonic adaptation

Slowing hedonic adaptation means using the levers Kennon Sheldon and Sonja Lyubomirsky propose against the two routes by which a positive change stops lifting us, fewer fresh experiences and rising expectations: variety, surprise and appreciation. Adaptation is treated as a process whose speed can change.

Sheldon and Lyubomirsky's hedonic adaptation prevention model explains how and why a positive change, such as a new job or a new home, stops lifting us. On the first route, the change produces fewer new good experiences over time; the same day is lived again and again. On the second route, expectations rise; what delighted us becomes the standard we measure ourselves against. Each route has an answer. Variety and surprise slow the first: a change that keeps producing different experiences fades later, and unexpected good moments hold attention for longer. Appreciation slows the second: deliberately noticing what the change has given, and comparing with how things were rather than with how they might be, brakes the rising baseline. In The Myths of Happiness, Lyubomirsky applies the model to relationships, work and money. Tests of the model are encouraging but the effects are modest, so the levers are best read as small, deliberate corrections rather than guarantees.

A real-life example

A purchasing specialist at a textile firm in Bursa notices, two months after moving into a bright new office, that he no longer sees it. He moves his Tuesday supplier meetings there, orders breakfast for the team unannounced once a month, and on Fridays notes in one line what the office made easier that week.

How to use it

  1. 1Use a good change in your life in more than one way; the same use every day is the shortest route to adaptation.
  2. 2Once a month, make room for a small unplanned surprise: a new route, a new place, a new person in a familiar setting.
  3. 3Once a week, write down one thing the change gives you that you would miss.