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Updated: Sep 17, 2025
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Measuring Delay Discounting in Humans Using an Adjusting Amount Task
Published on: January 9, 2016
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Grit, discounting, & time inconsistency
Christian König-Kersting1, Stefan T Trautmann2,3
1Department of Banking and Finance, University of Innsbruck, Universitätsstraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
Journal of Risk and Uncertainty
|June 30, 2025
Summary
Impatience, but not time inconsistency, is linked to grit's perseverance of effort component. Both impatience and grit predict financial and health outcomes, suggesting their inclusion in intertemporal decision studies.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Economics
- Psychology
Background:
- Grit, a measure of perseverance and passion for long-term goals, comprises perseverance of effort and consistency of interests.
- Economic concepts of impatience and time inconsistency describe individuals' preferences over time.
- Understanding the relationship between psychological traits like grit and economic decision-making is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between the two components of grit and economic measures of impatience and time inconsistency.
- To examine the predictive power of impatience and grit for financial and health outcomes.
Main Methods:
- The study utilized psychological grit measures (perseverance of effort, consistency of interests).
- Economic measures of impatience and time inconsistency were employed.
- Associations and predictive relationships with financial and health outcomes were analyzed in a general population sample.
Main Results:
- Impatience was significantly associated with the perseverance of effort component of grit.
- No significant association was found between time inconsistency and grit.
- Impatience and grit were predictive of financial and health outcomes, whereas time inconsistency was not.
Conclusions:
- Perseverance of effort in grit is linked to economic impatience.
- Impatience and grit are valuable predictors of financial and health behaviors.
- Incorporating measures of economic impatience and psychological grit in studies of intertemporal decisions is recommended.
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