Abstract
Aim
The Discounting Inventory was developed to provide researchers and practitioners with a standardized tool to asses individual differences in delay, probabilistic, effort and social discounting, all related to behavioral impulsivity. Convergent and discriminant validity of the Discounting Inventory was evaluated by comparing its associations with external variables to those obtained using standardized discounting measures with the same external variables.
Subjects and methods
A sample of 347 volunteers was examined. The first questionnaire completed by all participants was the Discounting Inventory. Individuals also completed the traditional discounting measure using pairs of hypothetical choices. The external measures included the Sensation Seeking Scale, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Eysenck Impulsivity Venturesomeness Empathy Questionnaire, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised, and Temperament and Character Inventory.
Results
The results revealed that although almost all correlations were significant for both the Discounting Inventory and the traditional discounting measures, most of the correlations between external variables and the Discounting Inventory were significantly higher than those between external variables and traditional discounting measures. However, both discounting measures were most strongly correlated with external measures of impulsivity, which is not surprising given the fact that discounting is seen as a behavioral impulsivity. Finally, most relationships between the Discounting Inventory and external variables were incrementally valid over the traditional discounting measures.
Conclusion
The Discounting Inventory can help to diagnose problems with behavioral impulsivity.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ainslie G (1975) Specious reward: a behavioral theory of impulsiveness and impulse control. Psychol Bull 82(4):463–496
Anokhin AP, Golosheykin S, Grant JD, Heath AC (2011) Heritability of delay discounting in adolescence: a longitudinal twin study. Behav Genet 41(2):175–183. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-010-9384-7
Brzozowski P, Drwal RŁ (1995) Kwestionariusz osobowości Eysencka. polska adaptacja EPQ–R. Podręcznik [Eysenck personality questionnaire: Polish adaptation of the EPQ-R. manual]
Cloninger CR, Svrakic DM, Przybeck TR (1993) A psychobiological model of temperament and character. Arch Gen Psychiatry 50(12):975–990
Cronbach LJ (1990) Essentials of psychological testing. New York: Harper & Bros Eysenck HJ (1993) The nature of impulsivity. In WG McCown, JL Johnson, MB Shure, The impulsive client. Theory, research and treatment (pp. 57–69). Washington (DC): American Psychological Association
Eysenck HJ (1993) The nature of impulsivity. In McCown WG, Johnson JL, Shure MB (eds) The impulsive client: Theory, research, and treatment (p. 57–69). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10500-004
Green L, Myerson J (2004) A discounting framework for choice with delayed and probabilistic rewards. Psychol Bull 130:769–792. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.5.769
Grzesiak M, Beszłej JA, Szechiński M (2008) Skala impulsywności Barratta. [Barratt impulsiveness scale]. Postępy Psychiatrii i Neurologii 17(1):61–64
Hornowska E (2003) Temperamentalne uwarunkowania zachowania: badania z wykorzystaniem kwestionariusza TCI RC Cloningera. [Temperamental conditioning of behavior: Use of RC Cloninger TCI Questionnaire]. Bogucki Wydawnictwo Naukowe
Hunsley J, Meyer GJ (2003) The incremental validity of psychological testing and assessment: conceptual, methodological, and statistical issues. Psychol Assess 15(4):446–455. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.15.4.446
Jaworowska A (2011) Kwestionariusz Impulsywności IVE. Impulsywność, Skłonność do ryzyka, Empatia. Polska normalizacja. [Impulsiveness, Venturesomeness, Empathy Questionnaire. Polish norms]. Warszawa: Pracownia Testów Psychologicznych Polskiego Towarzystwa Psychologicznego
Jones B, Rachlin H (2006) Social discounting. Psychol Sci 17:283–286. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01699.x
Kirby KN, Finch JC (2010) The hierarchical structure of self-reported impulsivity. Pers Individ Dif 48:704–713. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.01.019
Kirby KN, Petry NM, Bickel WK (1999) Heroin addicts have higher discount rates for delayed rewards than non-drug-using controls. J Exp Psychol Gen 128(1):78–87
Madden GJ, Bickel WK (2010) Impulsivity: The Behavioral and Neurological Science of Discounting. APA Books, Washington, DC
Madden GJ, Petry NM, Badger GJ, Bickel WK (1997) Impulsive and self-control choices in opioid-dependent patients and non-drug-using control patients: drug and monetary rewards. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol 5(3):256–262
Malesza M (2017) Testing the construct validity of the discounting inventory–psychometric properties of a polish and German samples. Pol Psychol Bull 48(1):118–128. https://doi.org/10.1515/ppb-2017-0015
Malesza M, Maczuga M (2017) Reliability of the discounting inventory: an extension into substance-use population. Pol Psychol Bull 48(2):293–300. https://doi.org/10.1515/ppb-2017-0033
Malesza M, Ostaszewski P (2013) Relations between Cloninger's dimensions of temperament and steepness of delay and effort discounting of monetary rewards. Psychol Rep 112(3):694–705. https://doi.org/10.2466/09.14.PR0.112.3
Malesza M, Ostaszewski P (2016) Dark side of impulsivity—associations between the dark triad, self-report and behavioral measures of impulsivity. Pers Individ Dif 88:197–201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.09.016
Malesza M, Ostaszewski P (2017) Assessing individual differences in discounting: construction and initial validation of the discounting inventory. Curr Psychol:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9754-x
Mitchell SH (1999) Measures of impulsivity in cigarette smokers and non-smokers. Psychopharmacol 146(4):455–464
Morgan JE, Gray NS, Snowden RJ (2011) The relationship between psychopathy and impulsivity: a multi-impulsivity measurement approach. Pers Individ Dif 51(4):429–434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.03.043
Murphy KR, Davidshofer CO (2005) Psychological testing. Principles and applications, International edn. Prentice-Hall, Inc, Upper Saddle River, N.J
Myerson J, Green L, Warusawitharana M (2001) Area under the curve as a measure of discounting. J Exp Anal Behav 76:235–243. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.2001.76-235
Oleszkiewicz-Zsurzs Z (1982) Demand for stimulation and vocational preferences. Pol Psychol Bull 13(3):185–196
Ostaszewski P (1996) The relation between temperament and rate of temporal discounting. Eur J Pers 10(3):161–172
Ostaszewski P, Green L, Myerson J (1998) Effects of inflation on the subjective value of delayed and probabilistic rewards. Psychon Bull Rev 5:324–333
Rachlin H, Raineri A (1992) Irrationality, impulsiveness, and selfishness as discount reversal effects. In: Loewenstein G, Elster J (eds) Choice over time. The Russell Sage Foundation, New York, pp 93–118
Rachlin H, Raineri A, Cross D (1991) Subjective probability and delay. J Exp Anal Behav 55:233–244
Reynolds B, Ortengren A, Richards JB, de Wit H (2006) Dimensions of impulsive behavior: personality and behavioral measures. Pers Individ Dif 40:305–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2005.03.024
Reynolds B, Richards JB, Horn K, Karraker K (2004) Delay discounting and probability discounting as related to cigarette smoking status in adults. Behav Process 65(1):35–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0376-6357(03)00109-8
Richards JB, Zhang L, Mitchell S, de Wit H (1999) Delay and probability discounting in a model of impulsive behavior: effect of alcohol. J Exp Anal Behav 71:121–143
Snowden RJ, Gray NS (2011) Impulsivity and psychopathy: associations between the Barrett impulsivity scale and the psychopathy checklist revised. Psychiatry Res 187(3):414–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2011.02.003
Steiger JH (1980) Tests for comparing elements of a correlation matrix. Psychol Bull 87:245–251
Sugiwaka H, Okouchi H (2004) Reformative self-control and discounting of reward value by delay and effort. Jpn Psychol Res 46:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5884.2004.00231.x
Whiteside SP, Lynam DR (2001) The five factor model and impulsivity: using a structural model of personality to understand impulsivity. Pers Individ Dif 30(4):669–689. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(00)00064-7
Valero S, Daigre C, Rodríguez-Cintas L, Barral C, Gomà-i-Freixanet M, Ferrer M, Casas M, Roncero C (2014) Neuroticism and impulsivity: their hierarchical organization in the personality characterization of drug-dependent patients from a decision tree learning perspective. Compr Psychiatry 55(5):1227–1233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2014.03.021
Zuckerman M (1994) Behavioral expressions and biosocial bases of sensation seeking. Cambridge University Press, New York
Funding
National Science Centre in Poland (grant number: 2013/11/N/HS6/01149).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The author declares that she has no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval
The study was approved by the appropriate ethics review committee prior to initiation.
Informed consent
All respondents taking part in the research provided informed consent after the nature of the study had been explained to them.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Malesza, M., Schröder-Abé, M. The convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity of the Discounting Inventory compared to the traditional discounting measures. J Public Health (Berl.) 30, 423–433 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-020-01306-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-020-01306-y