In the third class of the Science of Well-being, I learned about impact bias, hedonic adaptation, and the psychological immune system. These three concepts are each interesting and can be applied to aspects of daily living in really useful ways. (Note: there is a whole second section to this class that I will write about next week. I think they are both important enough to warrant separate attention.)
Impact bias describes how we consistently predict the size and length of our future happiness (or sadness) to be greater than they are. In other words, we constantly project that the scope of our emotional response will be bigger than it is. For example, when we picture getting a bad grade it’s pretty common to assume that we will be more upset than we actually turn out to be.
Hedonic adaptation is the process of getting used to stuff, both good and bad Over time, its impact diminishes. We just get used to things. Have you, or anyone you know ever wanted something? When you got it, did it stay as amazing as you expected it to be? I have plenty of experiences like this. My beautiful brand new shoes get worn in and my eyes begin to wander.
So, all cool stuff diminishes in pleasure over time. But the good news is that bad stuff is also susceptible to hedonic adaptation. The negative effect of unpleasant events diminishes just as predictably as positive effects. And, people have an even bigger impact bias about negative events, meaning that we think we will be even more upset for longer than what actually occurs.
Why is this? The first reason is hedonic adaptation and the second is that we have something called a psychological immune system. This is a host of processes that help protect us and make us feel better. The existence of our psychological immune system is why impact bias works like it does. We are always picturing things — both good and bad — as remaining fresh, when what really happens is that our brains are constantly shuffling things to the back burner. Our emotions, our thoughts, our experiences, are always shifting around. This is also helpful to know because when something bad happens, we might feel bad for laughing just a little while later. It isn’t that you are over it, it’s your psychological immune system helping you deal.
Understanding hedonic adaptation and the impact bias is sort of a bummer. It’s sad to recognize that good things diminish. Also, I don’t know about you, but I will probably continue to get this wrong. My eyes are already on a cute pair of new shoes. But the knowledge is useful. You can employ strategies to thwart hedonic adaptation and you can plan ahead to do things that you know will improve your mood and boost your happiness. I am listing them below and I hope that you try them this week.
Invest in experiences rather than material goods. Material goods will always degrade and become just more stuff but experiences are finite. They have the advantage of being both novel and ephemeral (new and time limited). These aspects of experiences make them a much better bet for increasing your happiness.
Savoring: On purpose mindfully paying attention to appreciation of the moment. Take the time to recognize and enjoy the experience of everyday activities such as showering, eating, riding the train, or being with a friend. You can even use your phone to savor by taking pictures of things you appreciate.
Negative visualization; thinking about the opposite of the good thing. Thinking about what life would be like without something, like ice cream, or trees, or your bed, can help you tune into these things with renewed awareness and appreciation. One example here that I can think of occurred in a show I watched this morning with my teenager: the characters are in the midst of the apocalypse, everything is gone and deserted and hopelessly messed up. One character grows a patch of strawberries for their partner as a surprise. When you get to see them try the strawberries, it helps you remember and realize how amazing that experience would be if you had not had access to a single strawberry for years! I mean, it made me want to run to the store!
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