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Intertemporal Decision-Making for a Group

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Abstract

Temporal discounting assessments measure the reduction in the subjective value of a reward as a function of the delay to that reward, and are correlated with behavior in social dilemma. Among the solutions proposed for defection in social dilemmas is a single individual making the decisions for the group. The present study examined the influence of group context on temporal discounting. Participants completed temporal discounting procedures when the outcomes affected only the individual and when outcomes affected a group of 10, including the individual. Though no overall difference was observed between the individual and group conditions, sex was found to be a moderating variable: Males discounted significantly more when discounting for the individual, but females discounted significantly more when discounting for the group. These results indicate that sex is an important variable when making intertemporal decisions for a group.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 West Markham St., 843, Little Rock, AR, 72205, USA

    Richard Yi PhD, Leila F. King, Anne E. Carter, Reid D. Landes & Warren K. Bickel

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  1. Richard Yi PhD
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  2. Leila F. King
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  3. Anne E. Carter
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  4. Reid D. Landes
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  5. Warren K. Bickel
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Correspondence to Richard Yi PhD.

Additional information

This research was funded by National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant R01 DA11692.

The authors thank Katie McLean, Cody Burnett, Larrah Jenkins, and Renee Steed for assistance with data collection and analysis.

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Yi, R., King, L.F., Carter, A.E. et al. Intertemporal Decision-Making for a Group. Psychol Rec 60, 577–586 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395733

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