Influence Of Time Ambiguity Level,Time Ambiguity Type And Gain And Loss Framework On Time Ambiguity Avoidance In Intertemporal Decision Making

Intertemporal decision making,which exists in various aspects of our life,from individual’s daily life to national level policy-making,involves choice at different time points.In the past research on intertemporal decision making,the time points involved in the decision making are accurate,while the time point,in most cases,are ambiguously in reality.Therefore,through precisely controlling time ambiguity level,time ambiguity type and gain and loss framework,the study explored whether there was time ambiguity avoidance in the process of intertemporal decision making and whether time ambiguity avoidance was affected by time ambiguity level and gain and loss framework.The results showed that under the profit scenario,when the time ambiguity type was the sooner smaller(SS)option,there was a significant difference in delay option selection rate between when time ambiguity was 0(when the time is accurate)and when it was 2weeks.There was also a significant difference in delay option selection rate between time ambiguity was 0 and 8 weeks.However,there was no significant difference in delay option selection rate between time ambiguity was 2 weeks and 8 weeks.Under the gain and loss framework of profit scenario,when the time ambiguity type was divided in three different options,short-term small option or long-term large option or short-term small option +long-term large option,there was significant delay option selection rate difference both in gain and loss framework regardless the time ambiguity level was 2 weeks or 8 weeks.The conclusions are as follows:(1)There is time ambiguity avoidance in intertemporal decision making under profit scenario;(2)Time ambiguity avoidance is not affected by the time ambiguity level in profit scenario;(3)Under the gain frame of profit scenario,there is avoidance of time ambiguity.However,under the loss frame of income situation,there is preference of time ambiguity;(4)Under the gain and loss framework of profit scenario,there is frame effect in time ambiguity avoidance.