A year after a big win, lottery winners are about as happy as they were before.
A 1978 study compared lottery winners, people paralysed in accidents and a control group. The winners were only slightly happier than the controls, and took less pleasure in everyday things like breakfast or a chat with a friend.
Why is this true?
Psychologists call this the hedonic treadmill: we adapt to good and bad changes and drift back towards a personal baseline. Later research suggests money does raise well-being, but far less than most people expect.
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More about psychology
Psychology facts describe the shortcuts your mind takes without asking permission. We misjudge randomness, remember interrupted tasks better than finished ones, and change our answers when a group disagrees with us. The entries here stick to findings that have held up under replication, avoid the pop-science versions that overstate them, and explain what the effect really predicts about everyday behaviour.