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Beyond the hedonic treadmill: Revising the adaptation theory of well-being.
Abstract
According to the hedonic treadmill model, good and bad events temporarily affect happiness, but people quickly adapt back to hedonic neutrality. The theory, which has gained widespread acceptance in recent years, implies that individual and societal efforts to increase happiness are doomed to failure. The recent empirical work outlined here indicates that 5 important revisions to the treadmill model are needed. First, individuals' set points are not hedonically neutral. Second, people have different set points, which are partly dependent on their temperaments. Third, a single person may have multiple happiness set points: Different components of well-being such as pleasant emotions, unpleasant emotions, and life satisfaction can move in different directions. Fourth, and perhaps most important, well-being set points can change under some conditions. Finally, individuals differ in their adaptation to events, with some individuals changing their set point and others not changing in reaction to some external event. These revisions offer hope for psychologists and policy-makers who aim to decrease human misery and increase happiness.
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“This suggests that expectations and reference points are not static, but dynamic (Diener et al., 2006).”
From Measuring Subjective Wellbeing: Recommendations on Measures for use by National Governments (2012) · cites this paper as Diener et al., 2006
In the citing paper
“Instead, set points for emotional well‐being can vary, shift over time, and differ across emotional and cognitive dimensions of well‐being.”
From "I don't grieve as much as I used to": A qualitative study on parents of children with rare and undiagnosed conditions navigating grief in the context of uncertainty. (2025) · cites this paper as Diener et al., 2006
In the citing paper
“Recent psychological theories, including revisions to the hedonic treadmill model, suggest that individuals do not always return to a fixed baseline of well‐being after major life events (Diener et al., 2006).”
From "I don't grieve as much as I used to": A qualitative study on parents of children with rare and undiagnosed conditions navigating grief in the context of uncertainty. (2025) · cites this paper as Diener et al., 2006
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BackgroundBernardi, L., Bollmann, G., Potârcă, G., & Rossier, J. (2017) · Research in Human Development · doi:10.1080/15427609.2016.1268893 · Cited by 58
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Genetic and Environmental Multidimensionality of Well- and Ill-Being in Middle Aged Twin Men
Franz, C. E., Panizzon, M. S., Eaves, L. J., Thompson, W., Lyons, M. J., Jacobson, K. C., Tsuang, M., Glatt, S. J., & Kremen, W. S. (2012) · Behavior Genetics · doi:10.1007/s10519-012-9538-x · Cited by 36
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“, Diener et al. 2006). Family economic models, however, would predict a permanent effect due to the benefi ts of household specialization (Stutzer/Frey 2006). This effect may even increase over time if specialization grows stronger after childbirth. The estimation of the impact function may thus help us discriminate b…”
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BackgroundOishi, S., Kimura, R., Hayashi, H., Tatsuki, S., Tamura, K., Ishii, K., & Tucker, J. (2015) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2015.02.001 · Cited by 40
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“…and how repetitive daily commutes have a lasting impact on SWB, we focus on the relationship between commuting behaviours and long-term SWB, including affective reactions (e.g. happiness) and cognitive judgement (e.g. satisfaction) of specific life domain and overall life (Diener et al., 2009).”
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Haider, S., Taphoorn, M., Drummond, K., & Walbert, T. (2021) · Neuro-Oncology Advances · doi:10.1093/noajnl/vdab089 · Cited by 35
Matthews, R. A., & Ritter, K. (2019) · Journal of Occupational Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/ocp0000123 · Cited by 35
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Jia, J. S., Jia, J., Hsee, C. K., & Shiv, B. (2016) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797616671712 · Cited by 37
“This correlation is intuitive because people have relatively stable behavioral habits across time, particularly on mobile phones (Diener et al., 2006; Lu et al., 2012; Saramäki et al., 2014; e.g., people who were music lovers before the earthquake still listened to music more than others after…”
BackgroundHappiness in modern society: Why intelligence and ethnic composition matter
Satoshi Kanazawa, A., & Li, N. P. (2015) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2015.06.004 · Cited by 34
Marshall, K., Thieme, A., Wallace, J., Vines, J., Wood, G., & Balaam, M. (2014) · Designing Interactive Systems Conference · doi:10.1145/2598510.2600888 · Cited by 37
“The hedonic approach often explains human wellbeing as the presence of positive affect and the absence of negative affect [9].”
BackgroundTang, N., Chen, J., Zhang, K., & Tang, T. L. (2017) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-017-9890-x · Cited by 52
“High income individuals not only adapt hedonic neutrality, quickly, but also elevate their income aspiration, experiencing hedonic treadmill (Diener et al. 2006).”
BackgroundStill Doing Fine? the Interplay of Negative Life Events and Self–Esteem during Young Adulthood
Tetzner, J., Becker, M., & Baumert, J. (2016) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.2066 · Cited by 34
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“Furthermore, according to the Set-Point Model, it is assumed that quality of life is quite stable, and only varies temporarily from a certain baseline level in major life events [18,55,56], and according to the Response Shift Theory, participants may have adapted to the new situation [57].”
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Diener, E., & Scollon, C. N. (2014) · Teaching of Psychology · doi:10.1177/0098628314530346 · Cited by 49
Self-citationVandepitte, S., Claes, S., Jellen, T., & Lieven, A. (2022) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-022-00544-z · Cited by 40
“…as the scientific counterpart of happiness) has increasingly being used alongside objective economic data to investigate social progress and prosperity, to evaluate public policy, and to predict outcomes in individuals and societies (Diener et al., 2006; Ngamaba, 2017; Vik & Carlquist, 2018).”
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“…(Buss, 2000; Rook, 1985), as strong social supports can buffer the adverse effects of negative life events (Armstrong, Birnie-Lefcovitch, & Ungar, 2005; Cohen & Hoberman, 1983; Diener et al., 2006), while weaksocial supports can be detrimental to physical and mental health (Stinson et al., 2008).”
Enhancing knowledge sharing in high-tech firms
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Vázquez, J. J., Panadero, S., & Rivas‐Rivero, E. (2014) · Social Work in Public Health · doi:10.1080/19371918.2014.938389 · Cited by 39
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“This bias also affects the evaluation of popular theories such as set-point theory regarding adaptation over time after experiencing a life event (Diener et al., 2006; Luhmann & Intelisano, 2018).”
Self-citationFoa, R., Fabian, M., & Gilbert, S. (2022) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0263570 · Cited by 44
“Third, we need to show that the return to baseline during lockdown was more than a simple hedonic adaptation effect [10]–that is ‘mean reversion’ to set-point levels of good mood–as this too would imply that mood recovery was possible in the absence of lockdown measures.”
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BackgroundMethodApplying non-parametric models to explore urban life satisfaction in European cities
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“These conceptual notions are supported by a myriad of empirical reports of mean-level stability and/or increases in the experience of positive emotions and decreases in the experience of negative emotions (Charles et al., 2001; Diener et al., 2009; Kunzmann et al., 2000).”
BackgroundResultReference effects on decision-making elicited by previous rewards
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BackgroundMaintaining perceived control with unemployment facilitates future adjustment
Infurna, F. J., Gerstorf, D., Ram, N., Schupp, J., Wagner, G. G., & Heckhausen, J. (2016) · Journal of Vocational Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2016.01.006 · Cited by 34
“The hedonic treadmill model and empirical evidence suggests that change in well-being with unemployment may proceed in two stages: reaction and adaptation (see Diener et al., 2006; Frederick & Loewenstein, 1999; Lucas, 2007).”
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“The multidimensional concept of well-being is in line with Diener and colleagues’ studies [26,27,31,32], showing that it includes evaluations of life in general (i.”
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Chen, S., & van Ours, J. C. (2018) · Demography · doi:10.1007/s13524-018-0725-0 · Cited by 29
“Other variants of the crisis model include adaptation theory (Diener et al., 2006; Lucas et al., 2003), stressful-event-as-stress-relief-model (Wheaton, 1990), and setpoint theory (Anusic et al.”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialGießelmann, M., Hagen, M., & Schunck, R. (2018) · Advances in Life Course Research · doi:10.1016/j.alcr.2018.06.002 · Cited by 34
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“While general happiness refers to a state of well-being induced by the predominance of positive over negative affection, regardless of the context (Diener et al., 1985, 2006; Lucas et al., 1996; Mogilner et al., 2011), consumer happiness refers to a positive subjective mood related to a specific…”
BackgroundAnimals in our Lives: An Interactive Well-Being Perspective
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“Hedonic well-being focuses on events or circumstances that generate positive emotions and life satisfaction (Diener, Lucas, and Scollon 2006); for instance, playing with a puppy may elicit a positive emotion in the leisure domain (Holbrook et al. 2001; Jyrinki 2012).”
BackgroundThe Mediating Role of Coping Self-Efficacy in Hope Box Use and Suicidal Ideation Severity
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The trajectory of life satisfaction and its associated factors among adolescents in South Korea
Yoo, C., Kahng, S. K., & Kim, H. (2016) · Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development · doi:10.1080/02185385.2016.1261732 · Cited by 30
Galiani, S., Gertler, P., & Undurraga, R. (2015) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/w21098 · Cited by 13
Do hassles and uplifts change with age? Longitudinal findings from the VA Normative Aging Study.
Aldwin, C. M., Jeong, Y.-J., Igarashi, H., & Spiro, A. (2014) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/a0035042 · Cited by 35
“results supports Diener et al.’s (2006) modified hedonic treadmill theory -- especially for”
InfluentialBig five personality influences trajectories of information seeking behavior
Zhang, Z., Yao, X., Yuan, S., Deng, Y., & Guo, C. (2021) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2021.110631 · Cited by 34
Seo, K., Fels, S., 강무진, Jung, C., & Ryu, H. B. (2020) · Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/07370024.2020.1744145 · Cited by 38
“Unfortunately, the hedonic adaptation effect (i.e., the tendency for humans to quickly return to a relatively habitual level of happiness despite positive or negative experiences; Diener et al., 2009) thwarts this game-play motivation from lasting longer.”
BackgroundMethodLeach, L., Dinh, H., Cooklin, A., Nicholson, J., & Strazdins, L. (2020) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-020-01944-3 · Cited by 27
“Conversely, theories of adaptation suggest that parents may have WFC stressors arise, but ultimately adapt to persistent conflicts, returning to overall positive wellbeing despite the ongoing presence of the WFC stressor [33, 35].”
BackgroundCox, K. S., Hanek, K. J., & Cassario, A. L. (2019) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/jopy.12452 · Cited by 27
Dreaming of a Brighter Future: Anticipating Happiness Instills Meaning in Life
van Tilburg, W. A. P., & Igou, E. R. (2018) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-018-9960-8 · Cited by 46
“We argued that people envision the future to be brighter than the present, even though such future projections tend in reality to be biased (e.g. Brickman and Campbell 1971; Diener et al. 2006; Wilson and Gilbert 2003; Schkade and Kahneman 1998; Wilson et al. 2000).”
Gimpel, C., von Scheidt, C., Jose, G., Sonntag, U., Stefano, G. B., Michalsen, A., & Esch, T. (2014) · Complementary Medicine Research · doi:10.1159/000363784 · Cited by 27
Lomas, T., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2021) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2021.1991453 · Cited by 47
Arslan, Ü., & Uyar, B. B. (2020) · International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research · doi:10.33200/ijcer.783328 · Cited by 39
“The Flourishing Scale The Flourishing Scale (TFS) was developed by Diener et al. (2009) to measure PWB. Telef (2013) adapted TFS into Turkish.”
BackgroundMethodLeBlanc, S., Uzun, B., & Aydemir, A. (2019) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-019-00383-x · Cited by 31
Ultrabilitation: beyond recovery-oriented rehabilitation
Buetow, S., Martínez‐Martín, P., & McCormack, B. G. (2017) · Disability and Rehabilitation · doi:10.1080/09638288.2017.1406997 · Cited by 27
“Observational [28] and experimental studies [29] support this notion that, at times, different forms of well-being can move in different directions.”
BackgroundCasper, A., Tremmel, S., & Sonnentag, S. (2019) · Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology · doi:10.1111/joop.12255 · Cited by 31
Social mobility, social network and subjective well-being in the UK
Li, Y. (2016) · Contemporary Social Science · doi:10.1080/21582041.2016.1190860 · Cited by 27
Changes in Self-Definition Impede Recovery From Rejection
Howe, L. C., & Dweck, C. S. (2015) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167215612743 · Cited by 30
Managing work and family: Do control strategies help?
Versey, H. S. (2015) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0039607 · Cited by 38
Lechner, C. M., & Leopold, T. (2015) · Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · doi:10.1111/jssr.12171 · Cited by 26
Disability-based inequity in youth subjective well-being: current findings and future directions
Savage, A., McConnell, D., Emerson, E., & Llewellyn, G. (2014) · Disability & Society · doi:10.1080/09687599.2014.880331 · Cited by 26
Subjective wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: A 3-year, 35-wave longitudinal study
Zacher, H., & Rudolph, C. W. (2023) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2023.2224757 · Cited by 32
“Consistently, extensions of set-point theory suggest that there are considerable individual differences, for instance in personality characteristics and in the use of coping strategies, that may influence the extent to which people adapt to and recover from significant events (Diener et al., 2006).”
BackgroundMethodWellbeing as a policy framework for health promotion and sustainable development
Corbin, J., Abdelaziz, F. B., Sørensen, K., Kökény, M., & Krech, R. (2021) · Health Promotion International · doi:10.1093/heapro/daab066 · Cited by 25
“This notion is popular although clearly problematic given rampant economic inequity, the failure of material goods to actually satisfy eudemonic notions of wellbeing, the hedonic treadmill (wherein people experience less wellbeing as an adaptation to more consumption (Diener et al., 2006)) and the impacts to planetary…”
Lin, Q., Guan, W., & Zhang, N. (2021) · International Journal of Conflict Management · doi:10.1108/ijcma-04-2021-0064 · Cited by 28
Experiencing a Natural Disaster Temporarily Boosts Relationship Satisfaction in Newlywed Couples
Williamson, H. C., Bradbury, T. N., & Karney, B. R. (2021) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/09567976211015677 · Cited by 30
Human Development Index as a Predictor of Life Satisfaction
Rahman, U. T. A., & Ngoo, Y. T. (2019) · Journal of Population and Social Studies · doi:10.25133/jpssv27n1.005 · Cited by 21
The effect of intrinsic and extrinsic goals on work performance
Zhang, Y., Zhang, J., & Li, J. (2018) · Personnel Review · doi:10.1108/pr-03-2017-0086 · Cited by 33
“Thus, the pursuit of external goals creates a sort of hedonic treadmill (Diener et al., 2006), meaning that the happiness that is experienced when achieving extrinsic goals quickly disappears and that the individual will experience the ill-fated consequence of continuing to interfere with the…”
BackgroundYao, Y., Kong, Q., & Cai, J. (2017) · International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education · doi:10.1007/s10763-017-9827-1 · Cited by 27
Kroll, A., & Porumbescu, G. A. (2017) · Review of Public Personnel Administration · doi:10.1177/0734371x15608419 · Cited by 25
Malo, M., Tremblay, I., & Brunet, L. (2015) · Journal of Vocational Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2015.11.005 · Cited by 34
January, A. M., Zebracki, K., Chlan, K. M., & Vogel, L. C. (2015) · Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology · doi:10.1111/dmcn.12820 · Cited by 30
Coronel-Santos, M. A., & Macías, J. C. R. (2022) · Frontiers in Sociology · doi:10.3389/fsoc.2022.978804 · Cited by 27
“…Keyes (2002) consider life satisfaction as part of Frontiers in Sociology 09 frontiersin.org emotional wellbeing; authors such as Diener (2000) and Diener et al. (2009) argued that it is actually a cognitive process that evokes the issuance of perceptual judgments by the individual about their…”
BackgroundAssessing the Short-Term Stability of Financial Well-Being in Low- and Moderate-Income Households
Roll, S., Kondratjeva, O., Bufe, S., Grinstein‐Weiss, M., & Skees, S. (2021) · Journal of Family and Economic Issues · doi:10.1007/s10834-021-09760-w · Cited by 31
Shavit, T., Sherman, A., & Aisenberg, D. (2021) · Current psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-021-01594-x · Cited by 24
Wijngaards, I., Hendriks, M., & Burger, M. (2019) · Transportation Research Part A Policy and Practice · doi:10.1016/j.tra.2019.07.017 · Cited by 27
Zhou, Y., Zou, M., Woods, S. A., & Wu, C. (2019) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/apl0000393 · Cited by 33
Mindfulness as a Moderator in the Relation Between Income and Psychological Well-Being
Sugiura, Y., & Sugiura, T. (2018) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01477 · Cited by 36
“Although temperamental factors have been considered representative intra-individual factors that determine well-being level in set-point theory (Diener et al., 2006), mindfulness has merits over temperamental factors in that it has been conceptualized as both a trait and state, allowing it to be cultivated through int…”
BackgroundDunn, B. D. (2017) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-017-9831-3 · Cited by 29
Sexton, E., O’Donovan, M.-A., Mulryan, N., McCallion, P., & McCarron, M. (2016) · Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability · doi:10.3109/13668250.2016.1213377 · Cited by 22
Likeableness and meaningfulness ratings of 555 (+487) person-descriptive words
Chandler, J. (2016) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2016.07.005 · Cited by 31
Consumer happiness derived from inherent preferences versus learned preferences
Tu, Y., & Hsee, C. K. (2015) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.12.013 · Cited by 25
“Hedonic adaptation: durable versus transient effect Our analysis yields a second proposition about hedonic adaptation [21–25].”
BackgroundLife satisfaction of musicians with focal dystonia.
Lee, A., Eich, C., Ioannou, C. I., & Altenmüller, E. (2015) · Occupational Medicine · doi:10.1093/occmed/kqv038 · Cited by 24
“This is in accordance with the concept of the hedonic treadmill [5,6].”
BackgroundResultHigh life satisfaction reported among small-scale societies with low incomes
Galbraith, E. D., Barrington-Leigh, C. P., Miñarro, S., Álvarez‐Fernández, S., Attoh, E. M. N. A. N., Benyei, P., Calvet‐Mir, L., Carmona, R., Chakauya, R., Chen, Z., et al. (2024) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2311703121 · Cited by 22
Metadata
- Authors
- Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., & Scollon, C. N.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Michigan State University (US)
- Singapore Management University (SG)
- Venue
- American Psychologist
- Published
- 2006-05
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 305-314
- ISSN
- 0003-066X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-990X
- OpenAlex
- W2052283723
- Cited by
- 1,946
- References
- 71
- Citations by year
- 2026: 82 · 2025: 98 · 2024: 99 · 2023: 129 · 2022: 123 · 2021: 99 · 2020: 155 · 2019: 85 · 2018: 95 · 2017: 96 · 2016: 89 · 2015: 126 · 2014: 107 · 2013: 102 · 2012: 124
- FWCI
- 75.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Psychologist (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Singapore Management University Institutional Knowledge (InK) (Singapore Management University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Optimism, Hope, and Well-being
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Keywords
- hedonic treadmill, adaptation theory, well-being, life satisfaction, emotions, temperament, individual differences, happiness policy, subjective well-being
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Happiness, Humans, Psychological Theory, Quality of Life
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