The Process Of "Short-Sighted" Decision-Making And Interventions For People With Low Socioeconomic Status

Now that China has "reached the historical stage of solidly promoting common prosperity," promoting upward mobility for low-income people and maximizing the share of middle-income groups are key to common prosperity.But there is ample evidence that people with low socioeconomic status tend to make "short-sighted" decisions that are detrimental to their upward mobility,such as having more debt,saving less,and under-investment in education and health.In the long run,these behaviors can further exacerbate the disadvantages of low socioeconomic status people and lead to their persistent low socioeconomic status.Therefore,in order to promote the achievement of shared prosperity,this paper aims to clarify why low socioeconomic status people make "short-sighted" decisions and,on this basis,develop more effective intervention programs to reduce their "short-sighted" decisions.According to the single dimension priority model and the Intertemporal Choice Heuristic(ITCH)model,the more weight an individual gives to the time dimension than to the money dimension,the stronger the time preference bias is,and therefore the more likely he or she is to make decisions based on the time dimension,and ultimately choose more immediate rewards that are shorter in duration,which is more "short-sighted".Based on scarcity theory,life history theory and construct level theory,it is clear that lower class people have a stronger time dominance bias in intertemporal decision making.Based on the above theories and related empirical studies,this study hypothesized that time dominance bias is the psychological mechanism of short-sighted decision making among low-class people,and increasing the weight assigned to the money dimension by low socioeconomic status individuals through the money weight manipulation reduces the time dominance bias and thus significantly reduces the "short-sighted" decisions of low socioeconomic status individuals.In this regard,three studies were designed to test these hypotheses.Study 1 examined the mediating role of time-dominance bias through a large sample questionnaire(N=1483).The study drew on the "dimension index" of eye-movement research to calculate the time preference bias based on the weights given to the time and money dimensions as subjectively reported by individuals.The results confirm the mediating role of time-dominance bias in the influence of socioeconomic status on intertemporal decision making: the lower the socioeconomic status,the stronger the time-dominance bias,and consequently the higher the delay discount rate and the more short-sighted.Based on this mediating mechanism,Studies 2 and 3 used different strategies to reduce the time-dominance bias and thus the "short-sighted" decisions.The field experiment in Study 2 changed the time-dominance bias through the money weight manipulation,which in turn changed the intertemporal decision(N=152).This study measured the time-dominance bias by adapting a "simulated balance task".The results confirm a moderated mediation model with time-dominance bias as the mediating variable and money weight manipulation as the moderating variable: money weight manipulation reduce the delayed discount rate of low socioeconomic status(SES)individuals and increase the delayed discount rate of high SES individuals;the moderating effect of money weight manipulation is through time-dominance bias,with money weight manipulation reducing the time-dominance bias of low SES individuals The moderating effect of money weight manipulation is through the time-dominance bias,where money weight manipulation reduce the time-dominance bias,of low socioeconomic status individuals,which in turn reduces their delayed discount rate,and conversely increases the time preference bias of high socioeconomic status individuals,which in turn increases the delayed discount rate.Since the measurement of time-dominance-bias in Studies 1 and 2 was subjective,Study 3 further measured time-dominance bias through an objective oculomotor index(dimension index)and reduced the time-dominance bias of the low socioeconomic status group through the money weight manipulation,thereby reducing their "short-sighted" decisions(N=95).The results confirm the moderated mediation model with time-dominance bias as the mediating variable and money weight manipulation as the moderating variable: the money weight manipulation reduces the time-dominance bias(dimension index)of the low socioeconomic status group,thus reducing their "short-sighted" decisions,but has no significant effect on the high socioeconomic status group.In summary,the results of this paper suggest that low socioeconomic status individuals give more weight to the time dimension in intertemporal decision making and have a stronger time-dominance bias,thus making "short-sighted" decisions.The money weight manipulation can reduce the time preference bias of low socioeconomic status individuals and thus reduce their "short-sighted" decisions.This paper clarify why low socioeconomic status people make "short-sighted" decisions and,on this basis,apply effective intervention programs to reduce their "short-sighted" decisions.