It’s the psychological explanation of the bliss felt during the pursuit of happiness and the dissatisfaction over time once that happiness is yours. In short: the less time spent on surviving, the more time we put on striving for things outside of our biological needs.įirst coined by Brickman and Campbell in the 1970s, the hedonic treadmill theory suggests that each person has a happiness baseline that they return to regardless of what happens to them. Unlike our ancestors who spent their time focusing on every present movement in order to survive, we hopelessly stitch together a possible future regardless of how bad we are at doing so. Since we’ve replaced animalistic predators with taxes, social media, and cancel culture, we’ve had more room for hedonistic, indulgent ways of living such as finding the love of your life on a dating app with a swipe of a thumb or as paradoxical as it may seem, living a minimalist lifestyle.Ī human’s modern-day continuous attempt to predict the future is another relatively new mental trick. When your life constantly flashes before your eyes, there’s little room for seeking pleasurably-flashing festivities. The Psychology Behind Pleasure, Desires, and the Hedonic Treadmillīefore we had the luxury of chasing cheap thrills, our ancestors were being chased by deadly thrills-predators. This constant chase of more trips, more lighthearted memories, more frozen margaritas by the beach, and the rush of traveling actually has a name. But before the weekend is even over, you’re on your way to planning the next getaway. The thought of the salty air and frozen cocktails by the beach never seems to age. The sun reflecting off the water, the sound of waves, the steady tingle of your skin burning, your smile wide this weekend escape was exactly what you needed. The night before boarding the plane, you spent the last few hours at home excitedly packing your favorite swimsuits and listing down every promising recommended location on TripAdvisor.
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