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Time preferences and preventive health behavior: acceptance of the influenza vaccine
1Psychology Department, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8020, USA. gbc@rci.rutgers.edu
Background:
Many preventive health behaviors involve immediate costs and delayed benefits. Time preference is the extent to which decision makers value future outcomes relative to immediate ones. Consequently, people with future-oriented time preferences should be more likely to adopt preventive measures. The relationship between time preferences and acceptance of a free influenza vaccination was examined.
Sample:
The participants were 412 corporate employees who were offered free influenza vaccinations at their workplace.
Measures:
Participants' time preferences were measured in each of two domains: money and health. They also reported on whether they had accepted the influenza vaccination and their beliefs and attitudes about the vaccine.
Results:
There was a small (OR = 2.38) relationship of vaccination acceptance to monetary time preferences but not to the health time-preference measures. Other variables, such as perceived effectiveness of the vaccine, were more predictive.
Conclusion:
This study provides some evidence of a small relationship between time preferences and preventive health behavior.
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