Gender as a Moderating Variable between Delay Discounting and Text-Message Dependency in College Students

Abstract

The present study examined the role of gender and delay discounting in text-message dependency. Participants completed a questionnaire on their level of text-message dependency. Based on this information, they were first stratified into the high-dependency group or the low-dependency group. They were grouped once more by gender. Participants in all groups completed a delay-discounting task with hypothetical monetary reinforcers. In this task, they made repeated choices between $1,000 to be obtained after a delay and an equal or lower amount of money to be obtained immediately. The results show that high-dependency males did not significantly differ from low-dependency males in terms of their rate of delay discounting, whereas high-dependency females discounted delayed monetary reinforcers at a greater rate than low-dependency females. These findings support the conclusion that gender acts as a moderating variable in the relation between text-message dependency and delay discounting.