Hedonic adaptation: how do we modulate our pursuit of well-being?

We live in a world where it is increasingly easy to obtain "pleasure", although this pleasure is ephemeral and slips through our fingers like sand in the desert. On the other hand, life also puts us in situations that cause us suffering, and sometimes we have no choice but to accept it.

Hedonic adaptation is a concept that encompasses these two elements: pleasure and adaptation.. It is a tendency for people to return to a previous state of pleasure, no matter how many obstacles and difficult situations to face.

In this article we will see in detail what this concept consists of and reflect on its implications and repercussions on human beings.

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What is hedonic adaptation?

What is hedonic adaptation? It is defined as the ability that people have to adapt to the different situations that we experience throughout life, whether they are good or bad. To illustrate, let's take an example: we want a motorcycle, and we want the best on the market. We buy it.

We feel great satisfaction and pleasure (hedonism) when doing it, especially the first days. But little by little, and as the weeks go by, we get used to the bike, to the situation (which is no longer new), and to the initial feeling. What has happened? We have adapted to it; there has been a hedonic adaptation to the situation.

In other words, hedonic adaptation is the tendency that people have to return to a relatively stable level of pleasure and happiness, despite the events and situations, both positive and negative, that we are experiencing in our life.

Hedonism

Before entering the curious world of hedonic adaptation, let's talk about the basis on which it is based: hedonism.

What is hedonism? It is a philosophical doctrine, which starts from the idea that the objective in the life of the person is the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of suffering. Hedonism arose in Greece, and its main promoter was the philosopher Epicurus. For this reason, hedonism is also called "Epicureanism."

Epicurus, specifically, held that the search for pleasure should be done through the search for wisdom; Thus, we see how the term has changed slightly, since today we consider a constant pleasure-seeking behavior hedonistic to through the senses, that is, through food, sex, drink... in short, through "material" things (materialism).

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Hedonic adaptation in negative situations

As we saw in the introduction, the hedonic adaptation occurs in both positive and negative situations.

Thus, the nature of the human being allows it to adapt both to situations that provide well-being, and to those that cause you suffering (logically this may vary from person to person, but in general hedonic adaptation consists of that).

Let's take another example to illustrate hedonic adaptation in negative life situations. If, God forbid, a person suffers a traffic accident and loses an arm, surely, initially his reaction will be one of suffering and despair.

However, as time goes on, it is likely that he will adapt to this new situation that he has had to live (hedonic adaptation), and even find pleasure again in another way, in other things, etc. There are even people who overcome these traumatic situations and who also emerge stronger from them: we know this phenomenon (or trait) by the name of resilience.

Mind and brain

The human brain is configured to adapt to the environment and to the very different situations in which the person can be involved. In other words, the brain is programmed so that we survive the environment.

Many times, it is the mind itself that plays a trick on us, making us believe that we will not be able to face or overcome a certain situation, when the reality is not that.

The key is in the mind, which has a lot of power; actually, the mind is a kind of muscle that we can train and learn to master, so that she is not the one that dominates us, through negative and catastrophic thoughts.

What does happiness depend on?

Talking about the hedonic adaptation that all people experience at some point in our lives, leads us to ask ourselves the following question: what does our happiness depend on? In each person this question will have a different answer, since each one is based on a series of things to "achieve" happiness.

However, we can affirm that, as a general rule, Happiness depends on health, because if we lack health, it is of little use that we have many possessions, or many social relationships... although these elements will help improve our well-being, the truth is that enjoying health you live better, because you can really enjoy life.

This does not mean that people who are not in good health cannot enjoy life; they will simply have to face their situation, and acquire a series of coping strategies that allow them cope with difficulties while still seeking that happiness or well-being, largely through adaptation hedonic.

On the other hand, it is important to keep in mind that happiness It does not depend so much on the things that happen to us in life, but rather on how we react to them, how we take them and how we deal with them. There is the key to personal well-being; that is to say, within us, and not outside.

The concept of happiness

In psychology, the concept of happiness takes on many meanings, and in fact it is not exactly the same to speak of well-being, that of happiness, pleasure, enjoyment... As a result, we can ask ourselves the following: What is the happiness? Is it something that can be "achieved"?

Opinions vary greatly on these issues, although it is true that for many, happiness is not so much something that is "achieved", but something that is enjoyed at specific moments in life. If we speak, however, of a more generalized state of pleasure or joy, perhaps it is better to use the term "well-being" or "quality of life".

In search of pleasure

Human beings, like many animals, seek pleasure in their lives; many even, constantly. It is a natural mechanism of the human being, and on which hedonism is based. Who likes to suffer? We could safely say that practically no one (unless it is someone with a fetishistic or sadomasochistic disorder, for example).

On the other hand, joy, pleasure, satisfaction, enjoyment... We like all this, and that is why we crave it and look for it. If we get away from it, what happens? That this hedonic adaptation process is reactivated, which in a way is a survival mechanism.

Thus, our body, our mind and our brain, they act in unison to return us to that original state of relatively pleasant, or at least, emotional tranquility.

That is why although traumatic situations or events happen to us (or simply negative events from day to day day), we generally survive them, put ourselves first, and manage to reorganize our lives, and our emotions. That's what the hedonic adaptation we are talking about is all about.

Bibliographic references:

• Auletta, N. & Dakduk, S. (2013). Consumer Wellness: A Tour of Health, Hedonism, Spirituality, and Relationships. IESA Debates, 18 (2): 10-14.
• Botto, S. (2008). Contemporary Hedonism. Virtualia, Digital magazine of the Lacanian Orientation School.
• Trujano, M.M. (2013). Of hedonism and ephemeral happiness. Sociológica (Mexico), 28 (79): 79-109.