Abstract

CARVALHO, Pedro Le Mattre de et al. Escolha intertemporal: Enquadramento, sinal e diferimento das suas consequências. Aná. Psicológica [online]. 2012, vol.30, n.3, pp.251-267. ISSN 0870-8231.

According to the normative model of intertemporal choice, the Discounted Utility Model (Samuelson, 1937), the utility of a future outcome is discounted exponentially as a function of its delay. There is ample evidence that people do not comply with this proposition. In this study, 280 subjects performed a matching task in order to verify a new anomaly to exponential discounting, as well as four well known anomalies in the literature: The delay effect, the magnitude effect, the sign effect, and the delay-speedup asymmetry. The new anomaly is an interaction between the framing, sign, and delay to the outcomes: In gains, the delay effect is more pronounced in the delay frame than in the speedup frame; in losses, the reverse occurs. All anomalies were verified. We advance an explanation of the interaction effect in terms of diminishing sensitivity to delays.

Keywords : Delay; Delay-speedup; Interaction; Intertemporal choice; Magnitude; Sign.

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