For Chicagoans who wake up dreading their morning commute, new research suggests that changing their travel habits could provide just the right boost.

 
The study asked participants to rate their satisfaction with their car commute before and after switching to public transit. After traveling on city buses and trains for two to three days, individuals largely reported higher levels of satisfaction with driving their own vehicles than they had prior to making the switch.

 
One psychologist, who teaches in Israel and the U.S., said people are adaptable beings. Talya Miron-Shatz, director of the Center for Medical Decision-Making at the Ono Academic College, thinks the human ability to adapt to situations explains why participants reported being happier with their car commute after the study.

 
“We adapt, so when we get used to things, they now become our reference level,” Miron-Shatz said. “These things are now the status quo. They’re no longer interesting and wonderful and new. When you do that every day, it becomes very difficult to get excited.”

 
According to Miron-Shatz, familiarity with the daily commute can lead to complacency and the desire to try something new, which explains the heightened excitement that comes with using public transit.
“What happens to those commuters is that they walk away from their comfort,” Miron-Shatz said.

“When they’ve been traveling by car for a long time, they don’t even realize the convenience. You’re unaware of being able to control temperature and be alone and not have to hear or smell other people. Once this level of comfort is taken away from you, when you go back, you’re more appreciative.”

Participants also reported increased satisfaction with public transit, despite overwhelmingly preferring their car commute. Prudence Gourguechon, M.D., a Chicago-based psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, said the reason lies within the desire to maintain harmony between basic human instincts.

“Each of us is a bundle of multiple needs and desires, and we are always needing to strike balances or compromises, so the respondents can like driving and public transportation in any number of combinations,” Gourguechon said.

According to Gourguechon, public transit satisfies the desire to be around others, to release responsibility for the high-level functioning required to operate a vehicle and to fulfill ideals of environmental and civic duties. Car commuting, however, balances the need for autonomy, control and alone time.

But for most people, the satisfaction that arises from the temporary switch is short-lived, and since constantly changing transportation methods is likely impractical for many, how can we stay happy with our commute?

The secret, Miron-Shatz said, is to trick our minds.

“Find a peak moment,” she said. “If you can come up with a good moment in your commute, something that will sweeten it, you’re more likely to remember that. Now it’s an experience, not just the drag of a commute. You buy yourself a cup of coffee. Tell yourself, ‘Hey, this is nice. I deserve this. This is fun.’”