
One study found evidence for both positive and negative situations: in one instance, lottery winners were not happier than non-winners and in another, people with paraplegia were not substantially less happy than those who can walk. Early research on lottery winners supports this idea. In practical terms, if the theory is correct, it means that whatever losses or gains may befall us, we have evolved to return to this homeostatic state of emotional equilibrium. While this appears to be true of desirable outcomes (such as winning the lottery or getting married ), it is curious that it also seems to hold true of negative situations, such as getting divorced or being fired.

Whatever our aspirations, it seems that no matter who we are, when we finally do achieve our goals, our psyches move the goal posts again, and again, in an endless rugged pursuit of the next big thing, never finding complete satisfaction in the accomplishment at hand. We have all experienced this: from a coveted pay rise or promotion to a new lover, the sense of increased happiness we initially experience at the start eventually begins to fade as we become accustomed to the new situation. When it comes to crafting effective content strategies, perhaps the most tricky and pertinent principles to consider is hedonic adaptation, which refers to the phenomenon of becoming less sensitive to the same stimulus over time (whether good or bad).

While this has always been true, psychological research suggests that whatever logistical issues you may face, the most fundamental battles to be fought lay inevitably in the realm of cognitive biases, hidden heuristics and human psychology.
