Harry Helson’s Adaptation-Level Theory, Happiness Treadmills, and Behavioral Economics

Edwards, José

doi:10.1017/s1053837216001140

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Organizational sensemaking is partial and thus fails to capture material tensions’ full complexity (Benson, ; Tsoukas and Chia, ). Moreover, all actors are not alike; theories of adaptation (Edwards, ; Helson, ) and affordances (Gibson, ; Norman, ) show that there is wide variation in how and when individuals perceive, adapt, and afford tensions in organizational life.…”

Section: A Process Perspective On Paradoxmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Learning Spiral: A Process Perspective on Paradox

Raisch

Hargrave

Ven

2018

J Management Studies

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Paradox theory enables management research to replace either/or thinking with more integrative both/and approaches. Despite this achievement, greater theoretical complexity is needed to account for paradoxical tensions' intricacies. We use dialectics theory to unpack the learning processes through which organizational members and collectives build their capacity to understand and cope with complex tensions over time. Building on these insights, we develop a paradox process model that resembles a learning spiral, in which organizations move through stages of convergence and divergence. During the convergence stages, they learn about and refine their current worldviews by constantly moving between the tension's poles. During the divergence stages, they move beyond dynamic equilibrium to reach a higher understanding of tensions and their management. While organizations caught in equilibrium are prone to stasis and demise, those that move beyond equilibrium can achieve sustainability.

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Section: A Process Perspective On Paradoxmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Learning Spiral: A Process Perspective on Paradox

Raisch

Hargrave

Ven

2018

J Management Studies

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“…Only a few studies indicate that migrant workers with high education are more psychologically affected by COVID-19 (Gao et al, 2020;Lei et al, 2020). The theory of Adaptation Psychology explains that the basis of an individual's judgment of a stimulus depends on their past experiences and recollections of the encounters they have had with similar stimuli (Edwards, 2018). Based on the theory, research can explain the psychology of low-education migrant workers, as they have faced similar difficulties previously (natural disasters, poverty), so their ability to adapt is higher.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Returnee Migrant Workers’ Income, Psychological Well-Being, and Daily Life Expenses: A Case Study in Thua Thien Hue Province

Tran,

Le,

Bond

et al. 2024

JPSS

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The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the lives, economies, and cultures of communities in Vietnam despite it no longer being considered a global emergency. Migrant workers who returned to their localities during the outbreak are among the most vulnerable groups affected by the pandemic. This study surveyed 298 returning migrant workers in 6 Thua Thien Hue province coastal communes to understand the pandemic’s effects on them. Results indicate that the pandemic has affected migrant workers differently based on their work type, education level, and gender. The pandemic severely impacted workers’ employment and income, with self-employed workers being the most affected. The reduction in income led to changes in their quality of life, including cutting down on expenses and experiencing increased stress. In particular, female migrant workers with limited education have experienced heightened vulnerability and anxiety in comparison to their male counterparts, primarily attributed to their societal and caregiving responsibilities. However, most respondents intend to remigrate post-pandemic to continue sending remittances home regardless of the challenges ahead. The findings highlight the need for policies and support measures to improve the resilience and adaptive capacity of migrant workers in the post-pandemic period. These measures should focus on skill improvement, access to job placement networks, social insurance, and employment contracts, and raising awareness about the importance of saving income and providing psychological support.

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“…ALT was not designed to specifically explain assimilation and contrast effects but much more. It inspired many other theories such as Prospect Theory (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979), Adaptation Theory of Well-Being (Brickman & Campbell, 1971), the Hedonic Treadmill Model (Edwards, 2018), or the Model of Affective Adaptation (Wilson & Gilbert, 2008), and thus promoted the use of assimilation and contrast as explanation patterns.…”

Section: Adaptation Level Theorymentioning

confidence: 98%

Assimilation and Contrast are Everywhere

Röseler,

Schütz

2024

Preprint

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Whenever a stimulus is rated, that judgment can be influenced by another stimulus so that the rated stimulus is rated as more similar (assimilation) or less similar (contrast) to the other stimulus. Theories about phenomena referring to assimilation and contrast can be found in several fields of psychology. Still, the respective research is unconnected and has not been integrated. In the present review, we present theories that aim at explaining and predicting assimilation and contrast effects. We observe that theoretical and empirical overlap of the theories and models is surprisingly strong and introduce an ‘overlap-model of assimilation and contrast’ to systematize the plethora of existing theories and phenomena. We discuss potential reasons for similarities between these approaches and suggest that future research should tackle approach assimilation and contrast effects in a more systematic way than has been done in the past.

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Harry Helson’s Adaptation-Level Theory, Happiness Treadmills, and Behavioral Economics

Cited by 14 publications

References 71 publications

The Learning Spiral: A Process Perspective on Paradox

The Learning Spiral: A Process Perspective on Paradox

Exploring the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Returnee Migrant Workers’ Income, Psychological Well-Being, and Daily Life Expenses: A Case Study in Thua Thien Hue Province

Assimilation and Contrast are Everywhere

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