Psychological Connectedness and Intertemporal Choice

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 rued psychological connection between 2 parts of a participant's life, the less he or she discounted future monetary and nonmonetary 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 intertemporal choice Participants preferred benefits to occur before large changes in connectedness but preferred costs to occur after these changes