Self-Control,Time Interval And Scenario Type Impact On Intertemporal Decision Making

Intertemporal decision making,which involves choosing between a smaller gain or loss in the present and a larger gain or loss in the future,is a current hot topic of research in the field of decision psychology.Intertemporal decision making is closely linked to people’s lives,whether it be diet and exercise or career planning.Although people often make decisions,they are not always rational ones.In intertemporal decision making,if too much consideration is given to current benefits and the future benefits are ignored,it will be detrimental to people’s long-term development.Therefore,it is important to explore the factors that influence intertemporal decision-making,so as to help people make rational decisions.Self-control has an important relationship with people’s ability to resist bad temptations and to adapt better to society.Existing research shows that both state and trait self-control influence people’s interterm decision-making.In intertemporal decision making,people need to choose between options at different points in time,and the time interval between options affects people’s intertemporal decision making.Moreover,people’s intertemporal decisions in gain scenarios are different from those in loss scenarios.Therefore,this paper designs two experiments to investigate the effects of self-control,time interval and scenario type on intertemporal decision making.Experiment 1 used a three-factor mixed experimental design to explore the effects of state self-control,time interval and scenario type on intertemporal decision making,where state self-control was the between-subjects variable and the dependent variable was time discount rate.The subjects were randomly divided into high and low state self-control groups,and the level of state self-control was manipulated using a "nonprofessional writing" task,with the time discount rate in intertemporal decision making as a measure of the subjects’ preference for intertemporal decision making.The results showed that:(1)the time discount rate was significantly greater for a 1-month interval than for a 6-month interval.(2)The time discount rate was significantly greater for the loss scenario than for the gain scenario.(3)The time discount rate was significantly greater for the high state self-control group than for the low state self-control group in the loss scenario.(4)The time discount rate for the loss scenario was significantly greater than that for the gain scenario,regardless of the time interval.Experiment 2 also used a three-factor mixed experimental design to explore the effects of trait self-control,time interval and situation type on intertemporal decision making,where trait self-control was the between-subjects variable and the dependent variable was time discount rate.The trait self-control scores of the subjects were measured by the self-control scale,and an up-and-down 27% approach was used to obtain 57 subjects in the high trait self-control group and 57 subjects in the low trait self-control group,a total of 114 subjects,with the time discount rate in intertemporal decision making as a measure of their intertemporal decision making preferences.The results showed that:(1)the time discount rate was significantly greater at a time interval of 1 month than at a time interval of 6 months.(2)The time discount rate was significantly greater for the loss scenario than for the gain scenario.(3)The time discount rate was significantly greater for the high-trait self-control group than for the low-trait self-control group in the loss scenario.(4)The time discount rate was significantly greater for the loss scenario than for the gain scenario,regardless of the time interval.(5)The time discount rate was significantly greater for the high-trait self-control group than for the low-trait self-control group in the loss scenario with a 1-month time interval.The following conclusions were drawn from this study: subjects preferred the immediate option when the time interval was short.Subjects preferred the immediate option in the loss scenario.Both the high state self-control group and the high trait self-control group preferred the immediate option in the loss scenario compared to the gain scenario.Subjects preferred the immediate option in the loss scenario regardless of the time interval.At a time interval of1 month,the high trait self-control group preferred the immediate option to the low trait self-control group in the loss scenario.