Study Of The Influence Of Mortality Awareness On Intertemporal Choice

Intertemporal choice is a decision which involves choosing among benefits or costs at different time points.Time plays an important role in intertemporal choice because the longer time that people perceive,the more impatient they are while waiting for future rewards.This phenomenon reveals the relationship between time perception and intertemporal choice.In addition,present studies show that when people's mortality awareness is aroused,there will be changes in time perception accordingly,for example,the anxiety of the elderly makes them feel the quick passing of time.However,only a few studies have investigated the relationship between mortality awareness and intertemporal choice directly,especially making people imagine the death of themselves.The current research aims to study individual's change in intertemporal choice after priming mortality awareness.In experiment 1,mortality salience paradigm was used to prime participants' mortality awareness.In experiment 2,life expectancy feedback was used to prime mortality awareness.And in experiment 3,death situation forward and backward imaging was used to prime mortality awareness.The independent variables of the above three experiments were mortality awareness priming conditions and stimulating amounts.The dependent variables were time discounting rate and time perception.In experiment 4,instead of mortality salience,future life situation was primed so as to examine whether priming future had the same effect as priming mortality awareness.Results showed that,(1)When primed by mortality salience paradigm,individuals had smaller discounting rate,preferring the future.At the same time,they tended to feel that time passed more quickly and underestimated the length of time.In the median stimulating amount condition,time perception played a mediating role between priming conditions and intertemporal choice.(2)When primed by life expectancy feedback,individuals had larger discounting rate,preferring the present.(3)Compared to death situation forward imaging individuals,death situation backward imaging individuals had smaller discounting rate and underestimated the length of time.In the median stimulating amount condition,time perception played a mediating role between priming conditions and intertemporal choice.(4)Future life priming didn't have influence on intertemporal choice and time perception.The current research indicates that mortality salience and life expectancy feedback have di:fferent effects on intertemporal choice,that's because the two priming methods lead contrary direction of thinking about death.In the mortality salience priming condition,individuals tend to think about death situation in detail,which makes them retrospect their whole life from the point of death.Therefore,individuals will make more rational plans for life and prefer long term benefits to instant pleasure,so they have smaller discounting rate.However,life expectancy feedback only makes individuals look forward to death rather than retrospecting past life.Individuals are eager to seize current resources because of their mortality anxiety,so they have larger discounting rate.Experiment 3 also prove the above finding.In addition,this research also indicates that future life priming doesn't have the similar effect as mortality awareness priming,that is to say,only mortality awareness priming can impact individuals' intertemporal choice and time perception.