"I Feel Therefore I Decide": Effect of Negative Emotions on Temporal Discounting and Probability Discounting.

Cinzia Calluso,Maria Giovanna Devetag,Carmela Donato

doi:10.3390/brainsci11111407

Cinzia Calluso, Maria Giovanna Devetag + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11111407

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Abstract

Temporal and probability discounting are considered two fundamental constructs in economic science, as they are associated with phenomena with major societal impact and a variety of sub-optimal behaviors and clinical conditions. Although it is well known that positive and negative affective states bear important cognitive/behavioral consequences, the effect of emotional experiences on decision-making remains unclear due to the existence of many conflicting results. Inspired by the need to understand if and to what extent the current COVID-19 pandemic has determined changes in our decision-making processes by means of the unusual, prolonged experience of negative feelings, in this study we investigate the effect of anger, fear, sadness, physical and moral disgust on intertemporal and risky choices. Results show that all emotions significantly increase subjects’ preferences for immediate rewards over delayed ones, and for risky rewards over certain ones, in comparison to a “neutral emotion” condition, although the magnitude of the effect differs across emotions. In particular, we observed a more pronounced effect in the case of sadness and moral disgust. These findings contribute to the literature on emotions and decision-making by offering an alternative explanation to the traditional motivational appraisal theories. Specifically, we propose that the increased preference for immediate gratification and risky outcomes serves as a mechanism of self-reward aimed at down-regulating negative feelings and restore the individual’s “emotional balance”.

Highlights

After more than one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, experts and policymakers across the world are expressing increasing concern about the psychological and emotional toll that the spread of the coronavirus disease and the consequent restrictions to mobility have imposed on populations in the most heavily affected countries
The rapid surge of the pandemic has caused preoccupation about the disease’s short- and long-term health consequences, especially among the elderly, but the resulting economic downturn accompanied by the massive loss of jobs and the social isolation caused by lockdowns, mandatory mask wearing, and prolonged interruption of many leisure activities has triggered a whole spectrum of negative emotions associated with loneliness, economic uncertainty and financial insecurity The Pew Research Center reported evidence concerning the US population according to which at least one-third of Americans experienced high levels of psychological distress during the coronavirus outbreak
An linear mixed-effect model (LMM) was run on individual discount rates using the fixed effect of the results revealed that the model yielded a statistically significant effect of the condition (X2 condition (i.e., Neutral, Anger, Sadness, Fear, Moral Disgust, and Physical Disgust)

Summary

Introduction

After more than one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, experts and policymakers across the world are expressing increasing concern about the psychological and emotional toll that the spread of the coronavirus disease and the consequent restrictions to mobility have imposed on populations in the most heavily affected countries. Stress Disorder in response to health-related concerns, prolonged lack of sociality and high uncertainty about the future. The rapid surge of the pandemic has caused preoccupation about the disease’s short- and long-term health consequences, especially among the elderly, but the resulting economic downturn accompanied by the massive loss of jobs and the social isolation caused by lockdowns, mandatory mask wearing, and prolonged interruption of many leisure activities has triggered a whole spectrum of negative emotions associated with loneliness, economic uncertainty and financial insecurity The Pew Research Center reported evidence concerning the US population according to which at least one-third of Americans experienced high levels of psychological distress during the coronavirus outbreak. Another survey found that 49% of adults who are unemployed and looking for a new job report to be pessimistic about their possibility to find one in the near future [2]

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