Abstract
We synthesized life history theory and the antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis to form an integrative framework for understanding delay discounting (DD). We distinguished between fundamental and longitudinal life history trade-offs to explain individual and age differences of DD. Fundamental life history trade-offs are characterized by life history strategies (LHS), describing how individuals adjust reproductive timing according to childhood environments, while longitudinal life history trade-offs characterize how individuals make trade-offs between early- vs. late-life reproduction as a function of age. Results of a life-span sample (242 Chinese participants) supported several theoretical predictions: (a) slower LHS predicted lower DD; (b) the relationship between chronological age and DD was U-shaped; (c) the effects of age and LHS were differential. Mechanisms underlying fundamental and longitudinal trade-offs were explored. Regarding fundamental trade-offs, LHS mediated the effects of childhood environment on DD. Regarding longitudinal trade-offs, the U-shaped relationship was more evident between physical age and DD: older adults who were in poorer physical health felt older and exhibited a higher DD. Neither the time perspective nor anticipatory time perception mediated the effect of life history trade-offs. We concluded that DD was a product of two distinct life history trade-offs, reflecting both the trait-like quality and age-related development.
Highlights
Smaller but sooner rewards are normally preferred over larger but later rewards in intertemporal decisions requiring a trade-off between securing resources today and preparing for tomorrow
In order to build bridges across disjoint fields and provide explanations for heterogeneous findings, the present study proposed an integrative framework for understanding delay discounting
Based on our discussion on life history theory and the antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis, we proposed a distinction between fundamental and longitudinal life history trade-offs and argued that delay discounting is the product of these life history trade-offs
Summary
Smaller but sooner rewards are normally preferred over larger but later rewards in intertemporal decisions requiring a trade-off between securing resources today and preparing for tomorrow. Preference in intertemporal decision-making is described using delay discounting, indicating to what extent delayed rewards are devalued [1]. As early as two millennia ago, a fable in Chuang Tzu documented this phenomenon [2]: A keeper of monkeys once ordered concerning the monkey’s rations of acorns that each monkey was to have three in the morning and four at night. At this the monkeys were very angry. Studies in behavioral economics and psychology today authenticated the phenomenon and offered substantial empirical evidence that delayed rewards are often underestimated [3–5]
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