Beyond the hedonic treadmill: Revising the adaptation theory of well-being

• Main Authors: DIENER, Ed, LUCAS, Richard E., SCOLLON, Christie N.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2006
• Subjects: adaptation; coping; happiness; life satisfaction; subjective well-being; Gender and Sexuality; Social Psychology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/921; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/1920/viewcontent/BeyondHedonicTreadmill_2006_afv.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

According to the hedonic treadmill model, good and bad events temporarily affect happiness, but people quickly adapt back to hedonic neutrality. The theory, which has gained widespread acceptance in recent years, implies that individual and societal efforts to increase happiness are doomed to failur...