Emotional arousal and discount rate in intertemporal choice are reference dependent

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Behavioral Economics
• Decision Science

Background:

• Intertemporal choices involve balancing immediate gratification against future consequences.
• Emotional responses to immediate rewards may drive suboptimal long-term decisions.
• Understanding the role of emotion in decision-making is crucial for behavioral interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of emotional arousal, measured by pupil dilation, in intertemporal choices.
• To examine how reference-dependence and reward history influence emotional responses and choices.
• To determine the impact of reward predictability on patience in intertemporal decision-making.

Main Methods:

• Utilized pupil dilation as an objective measure of emotional arousal during intertemporal choice tasks.
• Manipulated the predictability of immediate versus delayed rewards.
• Analyzed choices in relation to recent offer history and arousal levels.

Main Results:

• Emotional arousal and choices in intertemporal tasks are reference-dependent, influenced by recent offer history.
• Arousal increases when rewards exceed expectations, irrespective of whether they are immediate or delayed.
• Patience increased when immediate rewards were less predictable than delayed rewards, and vice versa.

Conclusions:

• Emotional arousal in intertemporal choice is reference-dependent and linked to reward predictability.
• Reward predictability significantly modulates patience and the preference for immediate versus delayed rewards.
• Interventions altering the choice context can potentially enhance patience in intertemporal decision-making.