Rational temporal predictions can underlie apparent failures to delay gratification.

ABSTRACT: An important category of seemingly maladaptive decisions involves failure to postpone gratification. A person pursuing a desirable long-run outcome may abandon it in favor of a short-run alternative that has been available all along. Here we present a theoretical framework in which this seemingly irrational behavior emerges from stable preferences and veridical judgments. Our account recognizes that decision makers generally face uncertainty regarding the time at which future outcomes will materialize. When timing is uncertain, the value of persistence depends crucially on the nature of a decision maker's prior temporal beliefs. Certain forms of temporal beliefs imply that a delay's predicted remaining length increases as a function of time already waited. In this type of situation, the ra

SUBMITTER: McGuire JT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3773987 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature