Stumbling on Happiness

Daniel Gilbert

 While not obvious from the title or the summary, this book is a treasure trove of information and insights for the marketer or communicator. People make regular, predictable errors in their foresight and predictions, and it is key to be aware of them. They also fill in a lot with assumptions when they think of future events.

 A key section of this book is about "pre-feeling" or initial emotional reactions than come from imagining how the world will be, not from what actually happens in the world. Often, people's initial reaction or decision can be more predictive of their long term feelings about a decision than if they really think something through.

 There is also an good chapter on self-perception, discussing how and where we perceive ourselves as better than average (we are all above average drivers), or is some cases, worse than others (playing chess).

• When people think about the future, they tend to think about succeeding, rather than failing. They overestimate the chances that a positive event will occur.

• People will forestall pleasure to get more enjoyment out of thinking about the experience.

• A lot of people's happiness is tied up in their ability to control things, but in wanting to control their futures, their vision is usually clouded by overly optimistic predictions.

• When people select or choose something, they focus on the positive attributes, and when the reject something, they tend to focus on the negative attributes.

• Imagination needs to use the perception circuits to be effective. It will not work well when eyes and ears are otherwise engaged.

• Pleasure with something decreases with repetition, but can be kept fresh with variation and time.

• People think and compare thinks like experiences and prices in relative terms, not absolute terms. Thus, the classic "big ask / small ask" marketing technique. The small as seems cheaper because it is compared to the big ask, not nothing.

• People have a strong tendency to compare future possibilities with the past or the present, not against other future possibilities. The comparisons you set up for people when shopping or making a purchase decision can be key. Two choices that are too similar can lead people not to decide at all.

• People overestimate how bad they will feel if bad events happen to them.

• People feel more positive about their decisions once they have made them. People will continue to look for evidence to back up their decisions. People ask the questions that will give them the answers they want to hear. People question facts that do not agree with their conclusions more rigorously.

• People have a greater tendency to regret things they did not do, rather than things they did do.

• People will pay a premium today to keep open the opportunity of changing their minds tomorrow. Strong mental defenses are triggered when choice is about to be limited.

Stumbling on Happiness summarizes and puts into context dozens of psychological and economic studies so that they can easily be referenced and recalled.