A ratio scale for social distance.

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Economics
• Decision Science
• Psychophysics

Background:

• Delay discounting and social discounting are key concepts in understanding intertemporal and interpersonal choices.
• Comparing these two types of discounting requires compatible measurement scales.
• Delay is measured on a ratio scale, while social distance is typically ordinal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between delay discounting and social discounting.
• To establish a method for comparing social and delay discount functions.
• To rescale ordinal social discount functions to a ratio scale for comparability.

Main Methods:

• Utilized magnitude estimation to derive a psychophysical distance function for social distance.
• Modeled social distance functions using a power function, finding a median exponent of 1.9.
• Developed a method to convert ordinal social distance to a ratio scale.

Main Results:

• Social distance can be reliably converted to a ratio scale using a power function.
• The developed method allows for direct comparison between social and delay discount functions.
• The median exponent of 1.9 for the social distance power function indicates a non-linear relationship.

Conclusions:

• A comparable ratio scale for social distance enables direct comparison with delay discounting.
• This research provides a novel approach to understanding the interplay between self-control and social preferences.
• The findings contribute to a unified framework for analyzing different forms of discounting behavior.