Long-term mating equals far-sighted? The effect of mating strategy on economic decision-making

Abstract

Prior findings suggest that short-term mating motives influence individuals' economic behaviors. However, the effect of long-term mating motives remains unclear. To address this ambiguity, in the current study we examined how priming different mating motives influenced intertemporal discounting, with a primary focus on the role of construal level (N = 240). To do so, we experimentally manipulated participants' mating motives. Our findings were three-fold. First, men who were primed with a long-term mating motive showed reduced intertemporal discounting, whereas women did not show this effect. Second, individuals who were primed with a long-term mating motive showed increased saving willingness as compared to those in the short-term priming condition. Third, construal level mediated the effect of mating motive on a shift in an individual's preference between a smaller, sooner reward and a larger, later reward.