Abstract:
Intertemporal choice is a decision made in the dimension of time, which means that individuals
make choices and judgments by weighing the costs and benefits of options at different time points.
Previous studies have shown that people generally have a preference for recent gains, showing a “myopic”
cognitive mode. Many studies have investigated the influencing factors of intertemporal choice from the
aspects of environment and decision makers, focusing on the shaping of individual intertemporal choice
by established factors in the past. One of the current trends in psychological research is to emphasize the
expectation of the future. The “future perspective” focusing on intertemporal decision-making can reflect
an important change in the orientation of psychological research to a certain extent. Future research can
continue to explore the influencing factors of intertemporal choice from the “future perspective” and
comprehensively use eye-movement technology and other emerging technologies to track the cognitive
process of individual intertemporal choice to explain the mechanism behind intertemporal decision
making, which will help strengthen people’s understanding of intertemporal choice. At the same time, it
can be applied to practice to help individuals cultivate the decision-making mode of “farsightedness” to
seek better development.
跨期决策是基于不同时间维度进行的决策,指个体对发生在不同时间点选项的成本和收益进行权衡从而做出选择和判断。已有研究显示人们普遍存在对近期收益的偏好,表现出“短视”的认知模式。诸多研究从环境、决策者等方面考察了跨期决策的影响因素,主要关注过去既定因素对个体跨期决策行为的塑造。当前心理学研究的趋势之一是强调对未来的期待及关注,如未来时间观、未来自我连续性、未来情景预见等。对跨期决策中“未来视角”的关注可以在一定程度上反映出心理学研究取向的一个重要转变。未来研究可继续从“未来视角”出发,探究跨期决策的影响因素并综合运用眼动技术等新兴技术追踪个体跨期决策的认知过程以解释跨期决策背后的作用机制,有助于加强人们对跨期决策的理解。同时,运用于实践帮助个体培养“远视”的决策模式以寻求更优的发展。