Last week, Heather spoke to Robin Holloway about novelty seeking. In a similar vein, today we’re going to break down the science behind what makes us happy and what we can do to bring more sources of joy into our lives.
Understanding the hedonic treadmill theory is key to beginning our understanding of happiness. Psychology Today defines this theory as the return of an individual’s happiness level to baseline after rising or falling in response to life events. Our baseline happiness level is rarely at a true ‘neutral’, and tends to be more or less positive. Related to this theory is hedonic adaptation, or the “process by which positive or negative effects on happiness fade over time”. How quickly we return to our baseline happiness varies from person to person.
This is great news for negative events. Someone experiencing negative impacts to their happiness isn’t going to feel depressed forever. We recover from losing loved ones, breakups, getting laid off from jobs. Adaption is a bit of a double- edged sword when it comes to positive effects, however. The effect of positive things will also fade over time, which can lead to constraints on future happiness.
Humans are hardwired to seek out positive experiences. When their effects fade, we usually feel motivated to do something that brings us that happiness again. A promotion at work or a new piece of technology can bring joy for a while, but doesn’t necessarily impact our baseline happiness level, and will fade over time. Instead of embracing our baseline happiness, we tend to treat heightened positivity levels as the new status quo, causing us to go to further lengths to maintain and elevate our happiness.
Treating yourself to two big shopping sprees a year can be a source of joy. If we don’t stay disciplined and stick to twice a year, we could easily find ourselves ‘treating’ ourselves to a shopping spree a month in order to hold on to that joy. Ironically, a treat’s ‘specialness’ lies in its rareness. Treating ourselves to things more often leads to them becoming common, and we then have to move on to something bigger to feel the same joy. The things we turn to for joy today are most often material goods, which feeds into rampant consumerism, overspending, and greater material waste.
The same is true of our relationships. Starting a new relationship, whether romantic or social, can be a wonderful source of long- lasting happiness. As the relationship continues, the more likely we are to take them for granted, or for things to feel a little stale.
How do we fix this? How do we remain content with what we have, balanced against what we want?
Hedonic adaptation is thought to occur partially because of repetition. Something we enjoy, like getting coffee at a local cafe every morning, over time becomes an everyday occurrence that brings us less happiness than it once did. Shaking up our routine can introduce some novelty- check out a different cafe, take a more scenic route to work, talk to a stranger. Another approach is to pay attention to the usual things you experience and take time to re-appreciate what you enjoy about them.
Professors Catherine Hartley and Aaron Heller conducted an experiment to determine what kinds of experiences brought participants the most joy. Using GPS to track participants’ activity and daily self- reports of the participants’ emotional states, they found that individuals felt happiest when they had more variety in their routines. They also self- reported feeling more relaxed, excited, and happier on days that were more varied than days that were more routine. MRI scans of participant’s brains showed that those who had more exposure to diverse experiences had more brain activity in the hippocampus and striatum regions, which are linked to novelty and reward processing.
Many experiments have been conducted to determine whether material things or experiences make people happiest. As one might expect, experiences were the clear winner. Experiences tend to be more social, and are often more enjoyable when they involve being around others. The social nature of experiences also contributes to our sense of belonging and closeness to others, which brings greater long- term happiness. Experiences also tend to be more unique, which makes them harder to compare to others. Comparison really is the thief of joy, and comparing material goods often leads to feelings of inadequacy or financial concerns. Experiences, on the other hand, tend to be one of a kind regardless of the type.
Experiences also tend to be more central to our sense of self and worldviews. Our lives are the sum of moments, not things. When looking back at our lives, we will first remember the things we did and saw, not the things we bought.
When seeking long- term happiness, it’s best to keep it simple. What do we do every day that makes us happy, or used to make us happy? Can we take time to re-appreciate it now? What small changes can we make to our routines or behaviors? Where have we switched from treating ourselves to expecting things?
As we enter the holiday season and the end of the year, set aside time to reflect on the joys in your life. It’s an opportunity for everyone to redirect our attention and genuinely cherish the good, big and small, that contributes to our happiness.