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Lottery Winning and Happiness - Coggle Diagram
Lottery Winning and Happiness
Example
Winning a multi $1,000,000 lottery
Ecstatic & unbelievable, but will that joy still be there a few years later?
Study
Result: months after winning, average reported happiness levels increased no more than controlled group who didn't win lottery (some even unhappier than before winning)
Participants: 22 lottery winners
Study 2
Base level
Stays constant throughout our existence
Novelty of better food, superior vacations, beautiful homes ()
After getting used to ↑ = revert to default emotional state
Related phenomenon: hedonic adaptation / hedonic treadmill (describes tendency to adapt to new situations to maintain stable emotional equilibrium)
Hedonic adaptation
Makes us less emotionally sensitive to any changes (including negative)
Study 3
Participants: people who suffered accidents that left them paralyzed
Result: when asked several months after accidents about happiness level, reported levels approaching original baseline
Extended conclusion: hedonic treadmill inhibit our enjoyment of positive changes but also enable resilience in recovering from adversity
Result: Emotional well being (how often & intensely we feel emotions) don't improve w/ wealth / status beyond a certain point
Additional Reasons
Why can't lottery make you happy forever?
Socially isolating
Experience unwelcome money requests → isolate from others
Make us meaner
Study 4: rigged game of monopoly (some players were made rich quickly), wealthy players patronized poor players & hog snacks they meant to share
Difficult to manage
End up spending / losing it quickly
"Money ≠ Joy"?
Two ways to turn money → happiness
Spend it on others (Study 6)
Process: participants given money & asked to spend it on themselves / someone else, when asked, happiness levels of whom spent money on others = greater than other group
Donate (Study 7)
Process: examined generosity of > 200,000 ppl from 136 countries, in > 90% of these countries ppl who donated = happier than those who didn't
Huge influx of cash isn't guaranteed to bring joy ≠ money never makes us happier
Study 5: adapt to extrinsic & material things (e.g., new car / bigger house) faster than novel experiences (e.g., visiting new place / learning new skill), the more money spent on experiences rather than things the happier