Research Summaries: Domain-specific temporal discounting and temptation

Today’s paper co-authored by Angela Duckworth again straddles the two worlds of psychology and economics.
English: A comparison of the discount factor of hyperbolic discounting with that of exponential discounting. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Temporal discounting or time preference is the preference people show towards immediate short-term rewards over higher but later long-term gains. People are willing to accept much lower sums (of say money) now, than they would, for sure, receive at some time in the future. This preference is for sure sums and is distinct and different form uncertainty/risk avoidance.
Different people have different temporal discounting rates; some discount future gains much more steeply than others – these people will prefer immediate rewards much more strongly than those who have a less steep discount function.
Typical rewards considered in temporal discounting studies are monetary rewards; however a case can be made that other non-equivalent types of rewards exist like edible items, vacation experiences, health outcomes etc. Previous research has shown that contrary to classical economics models, people have different discount rates for different types of rewards; this is called domain-specificity of temporal discounting.
Different people desire and like different types of rewards to different degrees; for e.g., someone may desire to be healthy and prioritize over monetary rewards.  Although, as per research done by Berridge et al, liking a...

Source: The Mouse Trap - August 1, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: sandygautam Tags: Research Summaries Angela Duckworth liking wanting Source Type: podcasts