Time-filler Effect In Intertemporal Choice

Intertemporal choices are decisions in which the timing of costs and benefits are spread out over time. In previous studies of intertemporal choices, many researchers have conceived of a time which is non-material. While in actual perception, we are far from experiencing the ideally conceived time which is empty of experiences. In the experience of the individual, time consists of concrete events and is definitely influenced by the number and importance of concrete events occurring in the particular period under observation. We name those concrete events time-filler here. In this paper, we examine the influence of time-filler on intertemporal choices.In experiment1, we investigate the effect of the frequency of time-filler on intertemporal choices. In experiment2, we investigate how the emotional valence and frequency of time-filler affect intertemporal choices. In experiment3, we mainly discuss how subjects’involvement of time-filler influences intertemporal choices. We find that the more time-filler a given period is full of, the longer this period seems. A time filled with more positive time-filler seems longer, too. As subjects discount the value of outcomes according to how delayed they are in time, the longer a period seems, the more inclined to choose smaller-sooner outcomes the subjects are. Further, we demonstrate that involvement play an important role in intertemporal choices. The subjects who are more involved in the time-filler tend to choose larger-later outcomes.