Hedonic Stairway

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Hedonic Stairway by David AlmeidaMD

• In the pursuit of happiness, the stairway is an
  illusion and the steps dreams, that convince us
  that more happiness in just steps away. In
  reality, it functions more like a treadmill,
  keeping you in place despite a lifetime of
  paces.

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• TASK AT HAND This week Im thinking about
  the hedonic treadmill theory, which I usually
  refer to as the hedonic stairway. Simply
  surmised, the idea is that the pursuit of
  happiness is akin to a person walking on a
  treadmill. You keep walking, but stay in the same
  place. More steps does not equate to more
  happiness.
• The Hedonic Treadmill was coined by Brickman
  and Campbell in their article Hedonic Relativism
  and Planning the Good Society (Brickman
  Campbell, 1971, Hedonic relativism and planning
  the good society. New York Academic Press.
  pp. 287302. in M. H. Apley, ed., Adaptation
  Level Theory A Symposium, New York Academic
  Press).

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• In this seminal paper, the authors describe the
  tendency of people to keep a stable baseline
  level of happiness despite positive or negative
  external events. From the work of Brickman and
  Campbell, they interviewed 22 lottery winners and
  29 paraplegics with the aim of assessing change
  in happiness levels after the life changing
  events of winning the lottery or becoming
  paralyzed. The authors found that the group of
  lottery winners reported being similarly happy
  before and after the event, and expected to have
  a similar level of happiness in a couple of
  years. They found that the paraplegics reported
  having a higher level of happiness in the past, a
  lower level of happiness at the time of the study
  but surprisingly they also expected to have
  similar levels of happiness in a couple of years.

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• What can we take away from these results?
• For the most part, individuals can expect to
  have the same baseline level of happiness
  irrespective of quite drastic, dramatic and
  different life events. The effect of a large
  monetary gain had no effect on baseline level of
  happiness for both the present and the future. In
  the paraplegic group, although there was an
  initial decrease in happiness, they too expected
  to maintain or return to the same baseline level
  of happiness for the future.
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• How can we use this for our development and
  strategies?
• Awareness that, at least with respect to the
  pursuit of happiness, more steps you take on the
  hedonic stairway, will not grant you any
  additional happiness. Striving for that next
  promotion, a new car, or even great personal gain
  or loss, does not seem to alter your baseline
  level of happiness. Does this mean we should
  avoid these or strive for less? No, but it does
  call for awareness for why we pursue certain
  stations in life. More steps does not equal more
  happiness so be cognizant of your pace, journey
  and destination.

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• MEDICINE MACULA For those who know me, you are
  aware of my squash enthusiasm (although obsession
  might be a better descriptor). This week,
  the WHOOP Performance Optimization
  System featured me in their The Locker feature.
• Thanks very much to WHOOP and Mark Van Deusen
  for their interest! I dont have any financial
  ties to the WHOOP system but believe,
  wholeheartedly, it is the best fitness tracker
  available for the serious sports enthusiast.
• Stay active!
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• GRATIS Yes, there are two paths you can go by.
  But in the long run, theres still time to change
  the road youre on. Jimmy Page Robert Plant
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• My best to you,
• David Almeida
• david_at_davidalmeidamd.com