Everyone wants to be happy. But understanding what happiness really means can be tough. Common definitions describe happiness as a state of well-being determined by positive emotions or pleasant feelings ranging from intense joy to a strong sense of contentment or satisfaction.
It is also important to take note of the fact that happiness has environmental and biological bases. Any pursuit aimed at achieving or at least understanding this emotional state is challenging by default because of these underpinnings. However, a psychology-based theory offers a simple albeit thorough understanding of the definition and nature of happiness.
Kennon M. Sheldon, professor of psychological sciences at the University of Missouri and positive psychology researcher, proposed the Hedonic Adaptation Prevention Model. He described it as an approach to understanding and achieving lasting happiness or satisfaction.
Explainer: Understand How Hedonic Adaptation Prevention Model Can Help Achieve Happiness
The proposed model has several premises and predictions. It is fundamentally derived from the concept of hedonic adaption which asserts that people often adapt or get used to a particular event, situation, or stimulus that stirs positive emotional responses.
Happiness or the positive feelings associated with a particular situation can be fleeting. Hedonic adaptation essentially explains why and how most individuals experience a gain or loss in well-being after prolonged exposure to positive or negative stimuli.
To demonstrate further the concept of hedonic adaption, imagine being in a new relationship. The first one to two years often brings forth profound happiness and excitement. However, after some time, the euphoric feeling fades because of too much familiarity with routines.
Some couples end up being too comfortable with one another. Others tend to neglect the importance of sustaining the relationship. The same phenomenon has been observed in having a new job, moving to a new environment, or meeting a new set of friends.
Take note that hedonic adaptation occurs in both positive and negative situations and that this has evolutionary functions. This is because positive or negative stimuli can leave an individual too focused on the intense emotion and renders him or her unable to function.
A state of high arousal can also be both psychologically and physiologically harmful if experienced chronically. Some individuals adapt through disassociation or become immune to natural biological responses to reduce susceptibility to stress-related illnesses.
Bottom-Up and Top-Down Processes
Researchers Sheldon and Sonja Lyubomirsky evaluated and tested the predictions of the Hedonic Adaptation Prevention Model in a three-month and three-wave longitudinal study of 481 students. The results revealed that the model indeed specifies two routes by which the positive or well-being gains derived from a positive life change are eroded.
The first involves a bottom-up process in which positive emotions from positive life change decline over time. Essentially, an individual becomes too accustomed to the positive stimuli, thus taking it for granted or considering it as the new standard or new normal.
Furthermore, the second route involves a top-down process in which an individual increases aspirations for achieving positive life change to sustain or improve positive emotions. As an individual becomes more accustomed to the positive stimuli, he or she will begin to seek novelty or demand more from the stimuli to sustain the same level of happiness.
It is worth noting that the Hedonic Adaptation Prevention Model, despite a derivative of the general concept of hedonic adaption, actually provides guidelines for gearing away from the inevitable adaptive tendencies of individuals and sustaining happiness.
The investigation of Sheldon and Lyubomirsky suggests that people should optimize positive stimuli to slow down the process involved in hedonic adaptation. Furthermore, the study also revealed that rising aspirations often result in lower well-being, hence suggesting that this route should be minimized to impede hedonic adaptation to positive stimuli.
Additional Insights and Related Studies
Other researchers have also explored the Hedonic Adaptation Prevention Model. Jordi Quoidbach and Elizabeth W. Dunn wondered what specific approaches individuals can follow. Their study, which involved determining satisfaction from chocolate consumption, resulted in the identification of a particular strategy aimed at combatting hedonic adaptation.
Findings showed that those who abstained from consuming chocolates had significantly enjoyed the food more than those who were never subjected to a period of abstinence and those individuals who were never given special consumption or abstinence instructions.
The aforementioned results provided the first evidence that regular and intentional abstinence or temporarily giving up something pleasurable may provide an effective route to sustaining happiness. These results could also provide the basis why some cultures and religions have incorporated the concept of abstinence in their cultural or doctrinal practices.
Another two-part study by Sheldon and Ferguson also illustrated the application of the Hedonic Adaptation Prevention Model in boosting happiness or improving the well-being of individuals by examining and showing the impact of listening to positive music.
The first part showed how participants tasked to listen to music for 12 minutes with the intention of boosting their mood reported higher positive mood. In the second part, those were instructed to intentionally try to become happier versus those who did not try reported higher increases in subjective happiness after listening to positively balanced music.
Conclusion and Takeaway: Hedonic Adaptation Prevention Model as a Theory of Staying Happy
The discussions and referenced studies above present the Hedonic Adaptation Prevention Model as a theory or framework that provides an interesting insight into the nature of happiness and human goals and desires. It can also be applied in theories of motivation.
Most people associate happiness with personal or professional achievements. But hedonic adaptation argues that positive emotional state is temporary. The Hedonic Adaptation Prevention Model suggests that happiness should not be associated with end goals.
Remember that the bottoms-up route to losing happiness illustrates that positive emotions from positive life change decline over time. This is because an individual becomes too accustomed to the positive stimuli and begins treating it as an ordinary experience.
The top-down route explains why people continue to strive for more despite achieving their goals or having enough. This process illustrates the tendency of some individuals seek novelty or demand more from the stimuli to sustain the same level of happiness.
Studies revealed that individuals can sustain happiness as long as they keep optimizing their positive experiences while avoiding wanting too much. These also suggest that individuals have the capacity to make mental changes leading to new positive experiences.
Hence, rather than getting hung up on the destination, the Hedonic Adaptation Prevention model notes that people should focus more on enjoying their experience of the journey. As the proverbial goes, happiness is found not in finishing something but in doing it.
FURTHER READINGS AND REFERENCES
- Ferguson, Y. L. and Sheldon, K. M. 2013. “Trying to be Happier Really Can Work: Two Experimental Studies.” The Journal of Positive Psychology. 8(1): 23-33. DOI: 1080/17439760.2012.747000
- Quoidbach, J. and Dunn, E. W. 2013. “Give It Up.” Social Psychological and Personality Science. 4(5): 563-568. DOI: 1177/1948550612473489
- Sheldon, K. M. and Lyubomirsky, S. 2012. “The Challenge of Staying Happier.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 38(5): 670-680. DOI: 1177/0146167212436400