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Read the story. Then use the details to answer the multiple choice questions that follow.
Joy from expectation
According to a psychological study published in 2010 on the relationship between expectations and happiness, planning and anticipating a trip can sometimes be a happier experience than the trip itself. Dutch scientists interviewed 1,530 tourists in their study, of which 974 said they felt happier before their trip than while they were traveling. This is because traveling can at times be full of unexpected incidents, like flight delays, lost luggage,or disagreements between traveling companions. The Dutch scientists also found that the postponement of certain pleasures can prolong happiness.Saving a delicious chocolate bar for tomorrow instead of eating it tonight is one example.
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Have you ever heard of the Karen ethnic people's "Long Neck Village" in Chiang Mai, Thailand? The first time I heard about it was via a friend's Facebook page, which had an impressive photo of an old woman wearing countless brass necklaces and other brass bracelets on her arms and legs.I immediately decided that my curiosity needed to be satiated, that I would go there, find the old woman, and ask her about her brass adomments. I then read voraciously about the village, and found it has quite a tragic history. My hands trembled slightly as I found my way to the village on Google Maps, riding more than 20 km on a motorbike with a feeling of exhilaration. I had thought about this village for so long, with building curiosity and expectation. It gave me a feeling of happiness too, mixing anticipation and focus on a personal goal within reach. But my trip to the village lasted just 15 minutes, leaving me with a sense of loss. The village is only a few hundred meters long, and the $15 entry ticket felt exorbitant, given that the only action was villagers working on weaving looms or selling souvenirs. I found the old woman in the picture, and took a photo of her. The sense of excitement I'd carried for so long disappeared quite quickly. My sense of loss, which I'm sure others have felt on their own personal quests, has been explained by Professor of psychology Thomas Gilovich from Cornell University: "One of the enemies of happiness is adaptation," he has said. "Webuy things to satisfy ourselves, and are happy, but only for a moment. New things at first make us feel better, but then we adapt and become bored."It turns out that delaying happiness is also a form of happiness. It appears to be a mechanism that helps us maintain happiness longer and acts against a psychological characteristic that is deeply ingrained in the human subconscious. This is because we always hope for success, but when we succeed, we quickly become frustrated. While this trait motivates us to constantly thrive to get ahead, at the same time it causes some level of
despair.
The happiness felt before a trip is different to any other happiness encountered in life In almost everything else we may do we have a fair idea what
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