Psychological Connectedness and Intertemporal Choice

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 2010 American Psychological Association, Vol. 139, No. 1, 49-69, 2010

72 Pages Posted: 5 Oct 2011 Last revised: 30 Jul 2020

See all articles by Daniel M. Bartels

Daniel M. Bartels

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business

Lance Rips

Northwestern University

Date Written: September 15, 2009

Abstract

People tend to attach less value to a good if they know a delay will occur before they obtain it. For example, people value receiving $100 tomorrow more than receiving $100 in 10 years. We explored one reason for this tendency (due to Parfit, 1984): In terms of psychological properties, such as beliefs, values, and goals, the decision maker is more closely linked to the person (his or her future self) receiving $100 tomorrow than to the person receiving $100 in 10 years. For this reason, he or she prefers his or her nearer self to have the $100 rather than his or her more remote self. Studies 1 and 2 showed that the greater the rated psychological connection between 2 parts of a participant’s life, the less he or she discounted future monetary and non-monetary benefits (e.g., good days at work) over that interval. In Studies 3-5, participants read about characters who undergo large life-changing (and connectedness weakening) events at different points in their lives and then made decisions about the timing of benefits on behalf of these characters. All 5 studies revealed a relation between perceived psychological connectedness and inter-temporal choice: Participants preferred benefits to occur before large changes in connectedness but preferred costs to occur after these changes.

Keywords: connectedness, intertemporal choice, personal identity, decision making, temporal discounting

Suggested Citation

Bartels, Daniel M. and Rips, Lance, Psychological Connectedness and Intertemporal Choice (September 15, 2009). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 2010 American Psychological Association, Vol. 139, No. 1, 49-69, 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1938465

Daniel M. Bartels (Contact Author)

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business ( email )

5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

Lance Rips

Northwestern University ( email )

2001 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
United States

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