Impact Bias and Mispredictions of Happiness

When it comes to predicting how we will feel about certain events, we are often wrong. This is known as impact bias. In a study, professors at the University of Texas were asked to predict their happiness levels when they got tenure. They overestimated how happy they would be. Similarly, college students at Yale mispredict their emotional reactions to getting good or bad grades. This pattern of misprediction can be seen in various areas of life.