Pavlovian impatience: The anticipation of immediate rewards increases approach behaviour.

ABSTRACT: People often exhibit intertemporal impatience by choosing immediate small over delayed larger rewards, which has been implicated across maladaptive behaviours and mental health symptoms. In this preregistered study, we tested the role of an intertemporal Pavlovian bias as possible psychological mechanism driving the temptation posed by immediate rewards. Concretely, we hypothesized that the anticipation of immediate rewards (compared with preference-matched delayed rewards) enhances goal-directed approach behaviour but interferes with goal-directed inhibition. Such a mechanism could contribute to the difficulty to inhibit ourselves in the face of immediate rewards (e.g., a drug), at the cost of long-term (e.g., health) goals. A sample of 184 participants completed a newly developed reinfor

SUBMITTER: Burghoorn F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11906527 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature