The Influence Of Awe On Intertemporal Choice

Now or future? Individuals and the whole country and society often face the problem that considering profit and loss at different times to make decisions.However,there is always present delay discounting in intertemporal choice,that is,the present subjective value of future benefits significantly decreases.How to encourage decision-makers to be far-sighted and choice the larger and later returns(LL)rather than the smaller and sooner returns(SS)is a problem that researchers have been trying to solve.Pleasure makes people far-sighted,while fear makes people narrow-minded.How does awe,which surpasses pleasure and approaches fear,affect intertemporal choice? The present study used three experiments to gradually and deeply explore the influence of awe on intertemporal choice and its mechanism.Study 1 used a single-factor experimental design to explore the influence of awe on intertemporal choice by inducing awe emotion and neutral emotion respectively through magnificent natural landscape images and geometric images and measuring intertemporal choice with delay discounting task.The results showed that awe can significantly reduce delay discounting rate in intertemporal choice.Study 2 used the video without natural scenery to induce awe emotion.Meanwhile,on the basis of study 1,time perception was introduced as a mediator variable to explore the influence of awe on intertemporal choice and the mechanism.The results showed that:(1)delay discounting rate of the awe group was not significantly lower than that of the neutral group;(2)awe can significantly negatively predict delay discounting rate in intertemporal choice;(3)time perception mediated the influence of awe on intertemporal choice,and awe reduced delay discounting rate by increasing the subjective speed of time.Study 3 used the video containing of a series of natural disasters to induce negative awe,and explored the influence of negative awe on intertemporal choice and the mechanism.The results showed that:(1)compared with neutral emotion,delay discounting rate of negative awe group did not increase significantly;(2)negative awe can significantly negatively predict delay discounting rate in intertemporal choice;(3)time perception mediated the influence of negative awe on intertemporal choice,and negative awe reduced delay discounting rate by increasing the subjective speed of time.In conclusion,the present study found that awe can make people feel time flies and tend to choose the larger and later returns(LL)in intertemporal choice,which provided a solution for promoting individuals’ long-term thinking and rational decision-making.