Which concept describes the tendency to return to a baseline level of happiness after changes?

Which concept describes the tendency to return to a baseline level of happiness after changes?

• A. Social comparison.
• B. Affective forecasting.
• C. Hedonic adaptation.
• D. Moral licensing.

Answer: (C)

Hedonic adaptation is the tendency to return to a baseline level of happiness after changes in life circumstances. This means that big events or shifts—whether positive like a promotion or negative like a setback—often cause only a temporary swing in how happy you feel. Over time, you tend to drift back toward your usual level of well-being as you adjust, adapt, and find new sources of satisfaction. This helps explain why people may feel a burst of joy after a lottery win or a dip after a setback, but their overall happiness level often settles again near where it was before. This idea fits with the notion that each person has a relatively stable happiness baseline shaped by personality and other factors, and it accounts for why long-term life satisfaction remains fairly steady despite many changes. Social comparison involves evaluating your status relative to others, which can influence happiness but doesn’t describe returning to a baseline after changes. Affective forecasting is about predicting how you’ll feel in the future, which is often inaccurate. Moral licensing is about feeling permitted to act in certain ways after doing something good, not about happiness rebounding to a baseline.

Hedonic adaptation is the tendency to return to a baseline level of happiness after changes in life circumstances. This means that big events or shifts—whether positive like a promotion or negative like a setback—often cause only a temporary swing in how happy you feel. Over time, you tend to drift back toward your usual level of well-being as you adjust, adapt, and find new sources of satisfaction. This helps explain why people may feel a burst of joy after a lottery win or a dip after a setback, but their overall happiness level often settles again near where it was before.

This idea fits with the notion that each person has a relatively stable happiness baseline shaped by personality and other factors, and it accounts for why long-term life satisfaction remains fairly steady despite many changes.

Social comparison involves evaluating your status relative to others, which can influence happiness but doesn’t describe returning to a baseline after changes. Affective forecasting is about predicting how you’ll feel in the future, which is often inaccurate. Moral licensing is about feeling permitted to act in certain ways after doing something good, not about happiness rebounding to a baseline.