Hedonic treadmill

Hedonic treadmill

Brickman and Campbell coined the term "Hedonic Treadmill" in their essay "Hedonic Relativism and Planning the Good Society" (1971), which appeared in M.H. Apley, ed., "Adaptation Level Theory: A Symposium," New York: Academic Press, 1971, pp 287-302. The theory has consequences for understanding happiness as both an individual and a societal goal.

The concept was modified by Michael Eysenck, a British psychology researcher during the late nineties, to refer to the hedonic treadmill theory which compares the pursuit of happiness to a person on a treadmill, who has to keep working just to stay in the same place.

The Theory

Humans rapidly adapt to their current situation, becoming habituated to the good or the bad. We are more sensitive to our relative status: both that which we recently have and that which we perceive others to enjoy.

Details

* Despite the fact that external forces are constantly changing our life goals, happiness for most people is a relatively constant state. Regardless of how good things get, we'll always report about the same level of happiness.
* It is believed that the baseline of an individual's happiness is at least partially genetic. For example, identical twins are usually equally prone to depression.

References

* http://overstated.net/05/04/26-hedonic-treadmill
* http://www.hedweb.com/hedethic/hedonist.htm
* http://www.utilitarianism.com/misc/index.html

* The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don't Need by Juliet B. Schor [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060977582]

* Using the Hedonic Treadmill To Be More Productive by Rob May [http://coconutheadsets.com/2008/01/11/using-the-hedonic-treadmill-to-be-more-productive/]

* The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060005696]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • hedonic treadmill — n. The tendency for a person s economic expectations and desires to rise at the same rate as his or her income, resulting in no net gain of satisfaction or happiness. Example Citations: Looking at the data from all over the world, it is clear… …   New words

  • Hedonic Treadmill — The tendency of a person to remain at a relatively stable level of happiness despite a change in fortune or the achievement of major goals. According to the hedonic treadmill, as a person makes more money, expectations and desires rise in tandem …   Investment dictionary

  • Psychology of monogamy — The psychology of monogamy deals with the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that commonly occur in monogamous relationships. This article deals with the psychology of monogamy in human beings.Psychological studies of sexual monogamy are sparse.… …   Wikipedia

  • Michael Eysenck — Michael William Eysenck (born 1944) is a British academic psychologist, and currently a professor in the psychology department of Roehampton University. His research focuses on cognitive factors affecting anxiety. Eysenck has written and co… …   Wikipedia

  • Happiness economics — Economics …   Wikipedia

  • List of philosophy topics (D-H) — DDaDai Zhen Pierre d Ailly Jean Le Rond d Alembert John Damascene Damascius John of Damascus Peter Damian Danish philosophy Dante Alighieri Arthur Danto Arthur C. Danto Arthur Coleman Danto dao Daodejing Daoism Daoist philosophy Charles Darwin… …   Wikipedia

  • Happiness — For other uses, see Happiness (disambiguation). Happy and Jolly redirect here. For other uses, see Happy (disambiguation) and Jolly (disambiguation) …   Wikipedia

  • Nick Baylis — Dr Nick Baylis FRSA (based in Cambridge, England) loosely describes himself as a well being explorer, teaching what he calls ‘the skills of well being’ in educational, healthcare and business settings, the world over. Though the first person to… …   Wikipedia

  • Abolitionism (bioethics) — Abolitionism is a bioethical school and movement which proposes the use of biotechnology to maximize happiness and minimize suffering while working towards the abolition of involuntary suffering. [cite web | title = Abolitionism | url =… …   Wikipedia

  • Michael W. Eysenck — Michael William Eysenck (* 1944) ist ein britischer Psychologe. Er ist Professor an der Royal Holloway, University of London. Seine Forschungen befassen sich hauptsächlich mit den kognitiven Faktoren der Angst. In den späten 1990er Jahren… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”