The Effect Of Spatial Distance On Intertemporal Choice

Spatial distance and temporal distance are two basic dimensions of psychological distance. Considering the relationship between spatial and temporal distance will help to explore the relationships of all other dimensions of psychological distance whether support Psychological Distance and Construal Level Theory(CLT). Referring to the existing researches in correlations between temporal distance and probability, this study investigated how spatial distance affects the intertemporal choice and delay effect, and suggested that spatial distance and temporal distance had inconsistent effect.This study included three experiments, and the first two experiments were conducted to test the effect of spatial distance on intertemporal choice. In experiment1, the spatial distance was induced by the picture of road, and the intertemporal choices were put in two different places on the picture. While In experiment2, which specific scenarios were used, the spatial distance was operated by the location of supermarket. These two studies both showed that compared to the near spatial distance group, the participants from the far spatial distance group were prone to choose the option that had smaller amount money but available today. Experiment3was conducted to test the effect of spatial distance on delay effect. The results indicated that the spatial distance couldn’t eliminate the delay effect, which was different with the temporal distance did.To sum up, spatial distance and temporal distance had inconsistent effect on intertemporal choice and delay effect. Moreover this conclusion is contrary to assumes from the perspective of CLT. Spatial distance is not substitutable for temporal distance in the psychological space.