The effect of social influence on deferred consumption

Abstract

Psychology students (N=40) chose repeatedly between small immediate (1 pence after 0 seconds) and large delayed rewards (2 pence after 40 seconds) during a 20 minute session. Before the start of the sessions subjects were given different information about the value of choosing the large delayed reward. Ten subjects were told that psychologists as a group regard waiting for rewards as an act with unconditional value. Ten more were told that psychologists regard its value as being conditional on economic conditions. Ten were told that they had to make a total of 30 choices and the final 10 were told they had 20 minutes in which to choose. Choice of the delayed reward was significantly more frequent for subjects in the "trials restriction instruction" condition than for those in the "time restriction instruction" condition and for those in the "unconditional value instruction" condition than in the "conditional value instruction" condition. Subjects response to delay was determined by information about the value of waiting rather than the actual economic conditions. The author interpreted this as supporting the idea that beliefs about the value of delayed rewards play a role in determining human intertemporal choice