Economic Theory Commons^™

Adaptive Utility: Observing The Rate Of Adaptation In Happiness As Short Run Shifts Revert To Long Run Averages, Cameron Bellamoroso

Honors Thesis

In economics, human decision-making models are based on the utility, or happiness, a person experiences from the choices they make. Individual happiness is closely tied to societal and global well-being, a common political and and research goal. Psychological studies on happiness show that people generally return to an average level of happiness after experiencing a significant positive or negative change in their life, a process known as the ``hedonic treadmill.'' Empirically, it is often difficult for people to predict the specific utility they will experience from a given choice, leading them to maintain constant preferences for only frequently experienced options. …