( - promoted by RiaD)
In Dan Ariely's book The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home the author introduces his readers to the concept of The Hedonic Treadmill. While this term may be familiar to psychologists and social scientists, it was a new one to me.
The theory behind it is that humans have a great capacity to adapt to changing circumstances, so that over time even the most dramatic life-changing events have little impact on our overall happiness. This is true whether the event is positive or negative--both of people who have suffered devastating injuries and of lottery winners. Although the immediate impact of these events is huge, it moderates over time, so that several years later, the lottery winners are only slightly happier than average and the injured people are only slightly less happy. |
| The same is true of the pleasure derived from the things we buy. For a few months after we get a new car, we're very happy with it. The bells and whistles, the shiny paint, the new car smell, all give us a little jolt of happiness every time we see or drive it. But as time passes, we grow accustomed to the options, the new car smell fades, and we might even pick up a parking lot ding or two. So we (subconsciously) begin searching for something new to give our lives that little thrill. Maybe it's a new iPad, maybe a new couch, but before we know it, we're on the hedonic treadmill, with the speed cranked up to 11.
We'd all like to think we aren't susceptible to these forces-to the "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality that drives our consumer culture-but Ariely argues that these things are deeply ingrained in our brains, and that advertising only exploits the predilection. So, how do we counteract these powerful hunter-gatherer forces that drive some people to the verge of bankruptcy in a spiral of diminishing returns from their purchases?
Research has shown that small interruptions in pleasurable activities extends their effect on us. So, instead of buying an entire living room full of furniture at once; picking up one piece at a time, and taking our time choosing each one (can you say garage sale?) increases the happiness they provide.
This dovetails with another observation in Ariely's book, which he dubs the Ikea Effect. It explains that we take more pleasure in something we've helped to create than in something that comes to us ready-made. So the person who furnishes their house with flea market treasures, lovingly painting and restoring the furniture they find, will be happier with their purchases, and their home, than the person who buys an entire suite of furniture from a store, or has their home professionally done by an Interior Designer. Also, because of the time invested in the process, the happiness these items bring will linger much longer.
Living simply isn't just good for the wallet and the planet, it's good for the psyche. We can take control of the hedonic treadmill by recognizing that desiring novelty is human nature, and finding ways to fill that need creatively feeds our soul in a much longer-lasting way than a trip to the mall to buy more useless junk ever would. |
