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Re-examining adaptation and the setpoint model of happiness: Reactions to changes in marital status (2003)
| Venue: | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |
| Citations: | 226 - 35 self |
BibTeX
@ARTICLE{Lucas03re-examiningadaptation,
author = {Richard E. Lucas and Yannis Georgellis and Andrew E. Clark},
title = {Re-examining adaptation and the setpoint model of happiness: Reactions to changes in marital status},
journal = {Journal of Personality and Social Psychology},
year = {2003},
volume = {84},
pages = {527--539}
}
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Abstract
According to adaptation theory, individuals react to events but quickly adapt back to baseline levels of subjective well-being. To test this idea, the authors used data from a 15-year longitudinal study of over 24,000 individuals to examine the effects of marital transitions on life satisfaction. On average, individuals reacted to events and then adapted back toward baseline levels. However, there were substantial individual differences in this tendency. Individuals who initially reacted strongly were still far from baseline years later, and many people exhibited trajectories that were in the opposite direction to that predicted by adaptation theory. Thus, marital transitions can be associated with long-lasting changes in satisfaction, but these changes can be overlooked when only average trends are examined. In their classic article on adaptation, Brickman and Campbell (1971) argued that people are confined to a hedonic treadmill— they are doomed to experience stable levels of well-being because, over time, they adapt to even the most extreme positive and negative life circumstances. This idea has received considerable empirical support. Most cross-sectional studies of life satisfaction and long-term emotional levels find that objective circumstances
Keyphrases
marital status re-examining adaptation setpoint model life satisfaction adaptation theory baseline level marital transition many people 15-year longitudinal study negative life circumstance long-lasting change hedonic treadmill subjective well-being substantial individual difference average trend cross-sectional study opposite direction considerable empirical support stable level long-term emotional level objective circumstance classic article
