Where the term comes from

The psychologists Philip Brickman and Donald Campbell introduced the phrase in a 1971 essay on “hedonic relativism.” In 1978 Brickman and colleagues reported that 22 major lottery winners were no happier than 22 people in a comparison group and took less pleasure in everyday events. That study is often cited as proof that people adapt to anything. Its 29 paralyzed accident victims, however, were clearly less happy than the comparison group, a gap that a later review described as quite strong.

What later research shows

In 2006, Ed Diener and colleagues proposed five revisions: people’s baselines are usually above neutral, they differ from person to person, different parts of well-being can move separately, baselines can shift, and the degree of adaptation varies between individuals. In 17 years of German survey data, 24 percent of people changed significantly in life satisfaction between the first and the last five years.

A meta-analysis of 188 publications covering 65,911 people found that adaptation depends on the event and on what is measured: after unemployment, life satisfaction took about three years to return to its earlier level. Lasting changes have been found after hard events such as widowhood, divorce and disability.

What helps

Evidence on slowing adaptation is limited. In a three-month study of 481 students, the boost from a positive change in their lives lasted longer when they kept appreciating it and kept finding variety in it, rather than raising their expectations. Be wary of the popular “happiness pie,” which says 40 percent of happiness is under your control: a 2020 critical review found little evidence for that split.

The hedonic treadmill describes adaptation after a change; the arrival fallacy is the forecast made before it. Both ideas are applied to life after a big win in why success feels empty.

Related terms

Arrival Fallacy: the forecast made before the change.

Post-Achievement Depression: low mood after a milestone, and when it needs an assessment.