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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 22, 2026

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies

Published on: August 25, 2023

Real and hypothetical rewards.

Matthew L Locey¹, Bryan A Jones, Howard Rachlin

¹Stony Brook University.

Judgment and Decision Making

|May 15, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Choices involving hypothetical monetary rewards closely mirror decisions made with real money. This suggests laboratory findings on decision-making are applicable to real-life scenarios, even with varying reward magnitudes.

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Area of Science:

Behavioral Economics
Cognitive Psychology
Decision Science

Background:

Laboratory studies often use hypothetical or small real monetary rewards for decision-making research.
Understanding how hypothetical reward magnitudes influence choices is crucial for applying lab findings to real-world situations.

Purpose of the Study:

To compare choices made with real versus hypothetical monetary rewards.
To investigate the impact of reward magnitude variation on decision-making behavior.

Main Methods:

Experiment 1: Temporal discounting game (Prisoner's Dilemma logic) with real and hypothetical rewards of varying magnitudes.
Experiment 2: Social discounting task comparing real and hypothetical rewards to assess value decrease with social distance.

Main Results:

Participants increased preference for larger, delayed rewards over time in both real and hypothetical conditions.
Hypothetical reward type (nickels vs. hundred-dollar bills) did not significantly alter cooperation rates.
Real and hypothetical rewards yielded comparable social discount rates, both described by a hyperbolic function.

Conclusions:

Hypothetical monetary rewards serve as valid proxies for real monetary rewards in decision-making studies.
Findings support the ecological validity of using hypothetical rewards in behavioral economic research.