Is variety the spice of happiness? More variety is associated with lower efficacy of positive activity interventions in a sample of over 200,000 happiness seekers

Abstract

ABSTRACT An empirically supported approach to increase one’s happiness (or well-being) is to engage in brief, self-directed positive activities in daily life. However, such positive activities may fail to bring lasting changes in well-being due to hedonic adaptation. Notably, previous research has shown that variety is a key factor that can slow hedonic adaptation and can improve the efficacy of positive activities. The current study examines the role of variety, along with other factors, while practicing well-being boosting activities within a large sample of happiness seekers (N = 218,606) who used an application that provides users with bundles of positive exercises to increase their well-being. Our results showed that using a wider variety of positive activities was associated with smaller – not bigger – boosts in well-being. Furthermore, people who engaged in more varied activities selected less generally effective activities than those who engaged in less varied activities.