What makes you happy? Win the big lottery? Find the love of your life? Eating at the finest restaurants every day? Well, the joy treadmill theory states that even if you manage to achieve all of the above, you won’t be happier than you were before.

What is a pleasure treadmill?

The joy treadmill is a psychological term for the speed at which we return to our baseline levels of happiness. Psychologists believe that we all have this basic point in our lives.

In other words, no matter what happens to us, we always return to our original levels of happiness. Of course, we all go through different stages in our lives where we may experience great highs or suffer devastating lows. The vicious hedonic cycle is our tendency to always return to our own level of happiness.

So, for example, a pessimistic person might win millions in the lottery. They may feel overjoyed and full of optimism for the future. However, depending on the pleasant walking style, this feeling of euphoria will dissipate. The pessimist will soon return to his usual state of pessimism.

On the other hand, an optimist may suffer heavy losses and feel very sad for a while. However, this low feeling will not last forever. The same optimist will return to his basic level.

So, basically, if you’re usually miserable, it doesn’t matter what happens to you in life, whether it’s good or bad. You will likely return to your level of unhappiness. Likewise, a person who always looks on the bright side will naturally return to this state, no matter what lows he may experience.

Examples of the fun treadmill

Winning the lottery

You might imagine that winning the lottery will always change a person’s life for the better. It is, but not as you think. A recent Swedish study revealed that although major lottery winners felt an overall increase in life satisfaction, their overall happiness levels did not change.

In fact, after an initial boost of happiness associated with actually winning, the winners quickly returned to their original levels of happiness. This shows that once you get used to a certain change, it no longer has a significant impact on you. This is a fun adaptation.

Buy the latest smartphones

We’ve all seen long lines outside stores in anticipation of the release of a new iPhone. It doesn’t seem to matter whether you’re a teenager or an older person; The excitement of getting the latest release is palpable. But when will that feeling go away and you get used to the new features, upgraded specs and the greatness of it all? Pretty soon, according to the treadmill theory.

So what’s going on in our minds? Does this theory mean that we cannot be truly happy? Or does it mean that happiness is a fleeting moment, and is not designed to last?

Well, what this means is that circumstances do not take into account our personal levels of happiness. This means that each of us has this basic level, and no matter what happens to us, we will eventually return to it.

Sure, we may experience an initial spike in happiness or a dip in sadness, but once we get used to these fluctuations, we return to normal. Are we born with this specific level, is it constant throughout our lives and can we change it?

The five factors of enjoyable walking

There are five important factors to consider when it comes to treadmill theory.

The set point for the average baseline is above neutral

Research shows that the set point we return to is usually above average. So, if you imagine a pessimist at one end and an optimist at the other, our set point of happiness is moving toward optimism.

Adjustment points vary between people

Although this set point is closer to optimism, we all have our own set points on the hedonic treadmill. These points are due to personality traits, our experiences while growing up, and our personalities.

We can have several specific points

Happiness is derived from many different factors and each one of them can be more important to an individual. Furthermore, what one person considers an essential part of their happiness may not matter to another.

The things that make us happy can change

I remember when I was young and the most important thing for me was to go out and celebrate on the weekend with friends. Now that I’m older, the thought of having to dress up for joy and go out and talk to people fills me with fear. I’m much happier living out in the country in a small village and walking my dogs.

We adapt differently to events

There is an assumption that we all react and adapt to changes in our circumstances in the same way. But of course, this is not the case. As individuals with very different life experiences, we all adapt in our own unique ways. This affects our happiness.

Can we get off the hedonic treadmill? Pleasures and gratifications

Studies show that certain experiences are more likely to be adaptive for pleasure. In other words, we get used to some things faster than others and the feeling of happiness tends to fade more. These things are known as “pleasures.” These pleasures bring us bursts of happiness that make us feel cheerful, excited, and cheerful.

Researcher Martin Seligman has studied the effects of these pleasures:

“Pleasures are pleasures that have clear sensory and strong emotional components, what philosophers call ‘raw sensations’: ecstasy, excitement… delight, rapture, liveliness, comfort. “It is fleeting and requires little, if any, thought.”

Examples of pleasures
Rollercoaster ride
A bite of delicious cake
Fresh floral scent
A sip of iced beer on a hot summer day
That first dose of coffee in the morning
Listen to your favorite group
Watch a funny movie
Getting into bed with fresh sheets
On a personal level, I can relate to the treadmill being fun. Since I live alone, I tend to cook my favorite meal over and over again for at least a few days. I also buy the same things for myself, like a certain brand of ice cream.

But even though I enjoyed it all at first, I was bored by the third day. The ice cream is not as delicious as it was on the first day. I’m looking for something different. This is the fun adaptation that begins.

Seligman describes them as short-term, fleeting pleasures that have short-term effects.

Now, he believes that to be truly happy, we need to focus on what he calls “gratifications.” Satisfaction is activities in which we have to contribute some effort, not just experience it.

Usually, these gratifications involve some small challenge that piques our interest or focus. Such as painting landscapes, going for a run, reading a new novel, or cooking with new ingredients.

Often, as we pursue these types of activities, we get lost in their flow. We become unaware of time, or the people around us. We are fully focused on the task at hand. The great thing about satisfactions is that the more we do them, the more pleasure we derive from them.