Time levels good and bad in the long term. Time really does heal all wounds, according to research which shows that we soon get used to both good and bad events in life.
The study claims that getting divorced or being sacked does not affect a person's satisfaction in the long term.
However it also finds that the happiness people enjoy from getting married or having children also fades after a few years.
Researchers who analysed the emotions recorded by thousands of people conclude that people get used to "life-changing" events fairly quickly, which may explain why becoming richer does not always mean getting happier.
Dr Yannis Georgellis, co-author and senior lecturer in economics at Brunel University, said: "The findings will be interesting for economists and psychologists worldwide as it reveals new mechanisms to explain what makes us happy."
In the study, published in the latest issue of the Economic Journal, economists and psychologists studied the effect of a series of life-changing events on several thousand Germans recorded over 20 years.
Participants in the research project noted their levels of happiness before and after they experienced marriage, childbirth, divorce, widowhood, unemployment or being sacked.
Analysis of their emotions disclosed that these events had a strong effect on a person's happiness levels at the time, but that the effect soon faded.
It was found that the life satisfaction of having a child disappeared after they reached their second birthday.
The study also found that marriage had no effect on a person's happiness more than five years after their wedding.
Only unemployment was found to have a "consistent" effect on a person's happiness for each of the five years after it occurred.
The researchers said: "Adaptation is a double-edged sword. While it does mean that the pleasure of a pay rise, or of marriage or children, might fade away over time, it also implies that 'time heals all wounds'. Here adaptation is welcome, as it takes the edge off initially painful events as time passes."
They claim this process of getting used to dramatic events may explain why people do not become happier as they earn more money.
"That extra thousand pounds may produce a great deal of pleasure initially, but becomes less important as time goes on, even to the extent of retreating into the background humdrum of what makes up our daily lives." ( telegraph.co.uk )
The study claims that getting divorced or being sacked does not affect a person's satisfaction in the long term.
However it also finds that the happiness people enjoy from getting married or having children also fades after a few years.
Researchers who analysed the emotions recorded by thousands of people conclude that people get used to "life-changing" events fairly quickly, which may explain why becoming richer does not always mean getting happier.
Dr Yannis Georgellis, co-author and senior lecturer in economics at Brunel University, said: "The findings will be interesting for economists and psychologists worldwide as it reveals new mechanisms to explain what makes us happy."
In the study, published in the latest issue of the Economic Journal, economists and psychologists studied the effect of a series of life-changing events on several thousand Germans recorded over 20 years.
Participants in the research project noted their levels of happiness before and after they experienced marriage, childbirth, divorce, widowhood, unemployment or being sacked.
Analysis of their emotions disclosed that these events had a strong effect on a person's happiness levels at the time, but that the effect soon faded.
It was found that the life satisfaction of having a child disappeared after they reached their second birthday.
The study also found that marriage had no effect on a person's happiness more than five years after their wedding.
Only unemployment was found to have a "consistent" effect on a person's happiness for each of the five years after it occurred.
The researchers said: "Adaptation is a double-edged sword. While it does mean that the pleasure of a pay rise, or of marriage or children, might fade away over time, it also implies that 'time heals all wounds'. Here adaptation is welcome, as it takes the edge off initially painful events as time passes."
They claim this process of getting used to dramatic events may explain why people do not become happier as they earn more money.
"That extra thousand pounds may produce a great deal of pleasure initially, but becomes less important as time goes on, even to the extent of retreating into the background humdrum of what makes up our daily lives." ( telegraph.co.uk )
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