Abstract
Discounting occurs when the subjective value of an outcome is altered because the outcome is delayed or uncertain. Previous research has suggested that how individuals discount delayed gains is related to executive functioning. The present study attempted to extend this relationship to discounting of probabilistic gains and losses, and to examine whether diminishing cognitive resources would impact how participants discounted monetary outcomes. In Experiment 1, university students completed an executive function measure and then a probability-discounting task that involved the hypothetical sum of either $1,000 or $100,000 framed as either a gain or a loss. The executive function of organization was a significant predictor of how participants discounted all four outcomes while motivational drive predicted discounting of losses, but not gains. In Experiment 2, participants completed the same measures with the addition of an ego-depletion task to deplete cognitive resources before making discounting decisions. The executive function of motivational drive and empathy were significant predictors of how participants discounted both loss outcomes. The results suggest that discounting of monetary outcomes is related to the executive function of organization for gains and motivational drive, and empathy for losses. They also support the notion that the discounting of gains may be a distinct process from the discounting of losses.
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Notes
Total score on the EFI was not used as a predictor variable because this score was highly positively correlated (all rs ≥ 0.583) with all of the subscale scores, which was not the case with the subscale scores, and beta weights become unreliable when highly correlated predictors are entered into the same model (Knight 1984).
A similar argument could be made for the magnitude effects (Thaler 1981) observed in the present study (i.e., more probability discounting of $100,000 than $1,000) because the direction of the magnitude effect differs between delay and probability discounting.
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Clark, T.D., Kassman, K.T., Derenne, A. et al. Do Measures of Executive Functioning and Manipulation of Ego Depletion Predict How University Students Discount Probabilistic Gains and Losses?. Curr Psychol 33, 98–112 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-013-9200-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-013-9200-7