Self-other differences in intertemporal decision making: An eye-tracking investigation.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroeconomics
• Decision Science

Background:

• Intertemporal choices involve decisions with immediate and delayed outcomes.
• Understanding differences in choices for self versus others is crucial for social decision-making.
• Factors like empathy, construal level, and power may influence these choices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how intertemporal choices differ when made for oneself versus for an acquaintance.
• To examine the role of attention to choice attributes in these differences.
• To explore the moderating effects of empathy, construal level, and sense of power.

Main Methods:

• Thirty-five participants completed a money choice task for themselves and an acquaintance.
• Eye movements were tracked during decision-making to measure attention.
• Trait empathy, construal level, and sense of power were assessed.

Main Results:

• Lower fantasy empathy predicted decreased delay discounting for others.
• Higher empathic concern and higher sense of power led to less impulsive choices for both self and others.
• Increased power biased attention towards rewards when deciding for others, reducing delay discounting.

Conclusions:

• Empathy and power significantly moderate intertemporal choices, particularly for others.
• Attention to reward attributes plays a key role in reducing impulsivity when making decisions for others, especially with higher power.
• Findings align with construal-level theory, suggesting different levels of abstraction influence self-other decision-making.