Hedonic Adaptation and the Set Point for Subjective Well-Being (original) (raw)
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The Many Faces of Hedonic Adaptation
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Hedonic adaptation has come to play a large role in wellbeing studies and in practical philosophy more generally. We argue that hedonic adaptation has been too closely assimilated to sensory adaptation. Sensation and selective attention do indeed play a role in adaptation; but so do judgment, articulation, contextualization and background assumptions, as well as coping strategies and features of one's social and physical environment. Hence the notion of hedonic adaptation covers not a single uniform phenomenon, but a whole range of different processes and mechanisms. We present a taxonomy of different forms of hedonic adaptation, pointing especially to the importance of coping strategies and socially supported adaptation, which have been overlooked or misdescribed by adaptation theory, but implicitly recognized by empirical research. We further argue that the differences between types of adaptive processes have ramifications for normative theories. Adaptation can work both for good and for bad, depending on the psychological and contextual details. Acknowledging the many forms of hedonic adaptation, and the ubiquitous role of mutual adjustments of values, standards of judgment, emotional tendencies, behaviour and environmental factors in achieving wellbeing also gives support to a more complex and dynamic view of wellbeing as such.
1999
1. Hedonic adaptation refers to a reduction in the affective intensity of favorable and unfavorable circumstances. This chapter discusses the purposes, underlying mechanisms, and most common functional representations of hedonic adaptation. The authors then examine some of the methodological problems that hamper research in this area and review the literature on adaptation in 4 negative domains (noise, imprisonment, bereavement, and disability), and 4 positive domains (foods, erotic images, increases in wealth, and ...
2012
This study analyzed the effect of major positive and negative life events (marriage, divorce, birth of child, widowhood, and unemployment) on life satisfaction. For the first time, this study estimated the effects of life events with a precision of 3 rather than 12 months. Specifically, two questions were addressed: (i) Does the precision of the temporal localization of the event (i.e., 3 or 12 months) affect the observed trajectories of life satisfaction, and (ii) is the precision of the temporal localization more important for negative life events? As expected, results showed that the precision of temporal localization allows a clearer view on hedonic adaptation, in particular following negative life events. Although divorce is generally regarded as a negative event, the literature on adaptation to divorce yields controversial findings. It is often reported as detrimental to subjective well-being (SWB) in the short or even in the long run, but it can also have positive consequences. This study used latent growth mixture modeling to deconstruct the averaged trajectory of pre-and post-divorce SWB dynamics. The analysis revealed three distinct classes of people who follow different patterns of adaptation-stable, recovering and chronic strain. A number of external and internal resources-age, gender, income, employment status, social support, number of roles-predict class membership.
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Social Indicators Research, 2012
This paper analyzed the effect of major positive and negative life events (marriage, divorce, birth of child, widowhood, and unemployment) on life satisfaction. For the first time, this study estimated the effects of life events not with a precision of 12 months but of 3 months. Specifically, two questions were addressed: (1) Does the precision of the temporal localization of the event (i.e., 12 or 3 months) affect the observed trajectories of life satisfaction, and (2) is the precision of the temporal localization more important for negative life events? As expected, results showed that the precision of temporal localization allows a clearer view on hedonic adaptation, in particular following negative life events.
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Hedonic durability refers to the extent to which the hedonic impact of a change lasts, that is, how long the unhappiness from a loss (or happiness from a gain) will endure over time. The lesson from previous research on this topic has been that the long-term effect of most changes (e.g., larger incomes, bigger houses, shorter commutes) is negligible. The present research shows something different. Consistent with previous research, we observed a pattern of hedonic nondurability in which the impact of a change did not endure over time. However, we also observed a pattern of hedonic durability in which the impact of a change does endure over time. We demonstrate differential rates of hedonic durability for losses, both across variables (Experiment 1) and within different ranges of the same variable (Experiment 2). We also extend our research to show differential rates for gains (Experiment 3). To explain our results, we propose a distinction between preference types, arguing that comparison-independent (i.e., absolute) preference types are hedonically more durable than comparison-dependent (i.e., relative) preference types. This research offers a method for validating preference-type categorization as well as a novel paradigm for testing hedonic durability in the laboratory. Moreover, it yields theoretical insights for affective forecasting and adaptation as well as practical implications for the hedonic treadmill and the joyless economy.
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The Journal of Development Studies, 2019
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