The Hedonic Treadmill: Why Happiness Keeps Slipping Away

Be honest: How long does the genuine joy from a new coat, handbag, car, or even a promotion or success at work really last?

If these objects and achievements had a long-term effect on our well-being, our happiness would be constantly compounding, and our baseline would steadily rise, right?

Sadly, that’s rarely the case. We quickly find ourselves caught in a cycle known as the hedonic treadmill (or hedonic adaptation). This phenomenon suggests that despite experiencing positive events or acquiring desirable possessions, our happiness levels tend to revert to a stable, personal baseline over time. The thrill fades, and we begin seeking the next thing.

Is our individual happiness level fixed, then, no matter what we do, buy, or achieve? For many of us, this is a deeply uncomfortable thought.

Or is it possible to escape the hedonic treadmill and genuinely increase our happiness and well-being over the long term? Let’s explore this intriguing question further.

Empirical evidence suggests we have a strong tendency to adapt to both positive and negative life events, often resulting in a return to our pre-existing level of happiness, known as our happiness setpoint.

Novelist Ian McEwan captured this idea succinctly:

“People often remark on how quickly the extraordinary becomes commonplace… We are highly adaptive creatures. The predictable becomes, by definition, background, leaving the attention uncluttered, the better to deal with the random or unexpected.” (1997, p. 141)

Defining the Phenomenon

The metaphor of the hedonic treadmill was introduced by Brickman and Campbell in their seminal 1971 paper, “Hedonic Relativism and Planning the Good Society.” Drawing on stimulus psychology and models of automatic habituation, their theory states that despite experiencing short-term spikes in happiness following positive events (like winning the lottery) or dips after negative events, our levels of subjective well-being will eventually return to our stable, pre-event baseline.

The Classic Example

To illustrate, consider buying your dream car—a shiny, brand-new luxury vehicle. Initially, you’re overwhelmed with joy. However, the novelty wears off over time, and the car becomes a familiar part of your routine. You stop experiencing the intense pleasure you felt on day one.

Brickman and Campbell’s research supported this by studying groups of lottery winners and people who experienced terrible, life-changing accidents. They found that both groups “returned to their pre-event happiness levels within a few months or years” (as cited in Diener et al., 2006, p. 306).

This concept of hedonic adaptation involves the restoration of baseline happiness, implying that material possessions or external circumstances alone cannot sustainably increase or decrease our long-term happiness. Sheldon and Lucas (2014, p. 4) define this as “the tendency to cease noting a particular stimulus over time so that the stimuli no longer have the emotional effects they once had.”

Psychological Mechanisms of Adaptation

Various mechanisms contribute to hedonic adaptation:

• Cognitive Adaptation: We subconsciously adjust our expectations and aspirations to align with our current circumstances (Frederick & Loewenstein, 1999). What felt extraordinary yesterday becomes the new normal today.
• Social Comparison Theory: We tend to compare our own situation with that of others, which can lead to a recalibration of our subjective well-being (Wills, 1981).
• Peak–End Rule: We often evaluate experiences based on their most intense point and their final moments, rather than the overall duration (Kahneman et al., 1993). This can cause a high-point moment to carry disproportionate weight in our memory.

The duration and scale of adaptation are also influenced by factors like the intensity, novelty, and duration of the life event (Diener et al., 2006), as well as individual differences in genetic predispositions and personality traits (Lucas, 2007; Lykken & Tellegen, 1996).

A Critique of the Treadmill Metaphor

While the hedonic treadmill offers a compelling framework, some researchers have questioned its foundational assumptions. Klausen et al. (2022) point out that the notion of a ‘stimulus’—often borrowed from sensory adaptation—is overly simplistic when applied to complex life events.

They argue that a more complex, process-oriented theory of well-being is needed, one that incorporates concepts like:

• Selective attention
• Judgment and articulation
• Coping strategies and social support

The simple metaphor of a fixed happiness baseline that is predetermined by our genes or personality can be discouraging. The image of the treadmill suggests being trapped in a cycle of pointless effort that gets us nowhere. This can cause us to question our agency and motivation: Why bother taking positive, transformative action if our happiness level is always already set?

Escaping the Treadmill: The Hedonic Adaptation Prevention (HAP) Model

The discouraging questions raised by the hedonic treadmill have driven researchers to explore ways to counteract its effects. This led to Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, and Schkade (2005) proposing the Hedonic Adaptation Prevention (HAP) model.

This model suggests that happiness is not fixed and that we can actively prolong the positive effects of life events. As the researchers state, “People may be able to actively prolong or enhance their happiness by preventing themselves from fully adapting to positive events” (p. 120).

The HAP model asserts that our overall happiness is influenced by three primary components:

Components of the HAP Model

Genetic Predispositions (The Fixed Component)

The model acknowledges that genetics play a role in determining our baseline happiness. Some people are naturally predisposed to a more positive disposition, making them less prone to adaptation. However, since this component is the least amenable to change, the HAP model advises focusing on the factors that are clearly within our control.

Intentional Activities (The Controllable Component)

The HAP model emphasizes intentional activities as the most effective strategy for preventing or slowing hedonic adaptation. These are the conscious actions we choose to take that boost well-being. Activities such as expressing gratitude, practicing kindness, and setting and pursuing meaningful goals can lead to sustained increases in happiness.

A key part of this strategy is variety. Lyubomirsky et al. explain, “When people engage in different activities, they are less likely to habituate to any single one” (p. 123). By regularly introducing new experiences and diversifying our positive actions, we maintain novelty and prevent adaptation.

Circumstantial Factors (The Shaping Component)

This component includes external factors like life events, environmental conditions, and social relationships. While many circumstances are beyond our control, the HAP model suggests we can actively seek to shape our circumstances to prevent adaptation—for instance, by curating a positive social environment.

The Power of Gratitude

It is unsurprising that a core strategy outlined in the HAP model is the practice of gratitude. Cultivating gratitude for the positive aspects of our lives is perhaps the most powerful and accessible antidote to hedonic adaptation.

Grateful thinking, the researchers note, “promotes adaptive coping by reducing the impact of the negative aspects of situations, promoting positive appraisals of stressful events, and preventing the decline in positive affect over time.” In short, gratitude keeps the joy of positive events from fading into the background.