The Influence Of Perceived Money Scarcity On Intertemporal Choice: A Moderated Mediation Model

As a common phenomenon in the field of choice,intertemporal choice has attracted the attention of many researchers.Nowadays,people are under the pressure of money everywhere,and the resulting perceived money scarcity is becoming more and more common in today’s society.So will there be significant differences in intertemporal choice between individuals with different perceived money scarcity? In the past,the influence of money scarcity on intertemporal decision making was mainly focused on the scarcity of objective money resources,but the perceived money scarcity caused by the scarcity of objective money resources was the main reason influencing intertemporal choice preference.Therefore,it is instructive to explore the relationship between perceived money scarcity and intertemporal choice,and to further understand the mediating mechanism and moderating factors of money scarcity affecting intertemporal choice.In view of this,the first study explored the difference of intertemporal choice preference between individuals with high and low perceived money scarcity through questionnaire measurement.In the second study,we conducted a behavioral experiment to investigate the causal relationship between perceived money scarcity and perceived waiting time,and between perceived money scarcity and intertemporal choice.In study3,episodic foresight was introduced to further explore its moderating role in the intertemporal choice of perceived money scarcity.The main results are as follows:(1)There was a significant difference in delay discounting between subjects with high and low perceived money scarcity,that is,individuals with high perceived money scarcity had significantly higher delay discounting than those with low perceived money scarcity.(2)Perceived money scarcity had a significant positive effect on both perceived waiting time and immediate decision preference,the perceived waiting time played a mediating role between perceived money scarcity and intertemporal choice.(3)Episodic foresight moderated the mediating model of perceived money scarcity influencing intertemporal choice through perceived waiting time.In other words,in the negative Episodic foresight condition,compared with the non-money scarcity priming,the money scarcity priming group evaluated the waiting time longer,and was more inclined to choose immediate gain.Under the condition of positive episodic foresight,there was no significant difference in perceived waiting time and intertemporal choice.Based on the above experimental results,this study suggests that perception of money scarcity has an important effect on intertemporal choice;perceived waiting time plays a partially mediating role in the relationship between perceived money scarcity and intertemporal choice;episodic foresight moderates both the direct path of money scarcity influencing intertemporal choice preference and the first half of the intermediate path of delayed waiting time influencing intertemporal choice preference.The findings not only enrich the research results on the relationship between money scarcity and intertemporal choice,but also provide enlightenment for individuals with money scarcity to make scientific decisions.