The Role of Future Time Perspective and Perceived Stress in Delay Discounting

Delay discounting rates quantitatively describe a person’s preference for smaller, immediate rewards than larger, later rewards. As the delay to receiving a reward increases, there is a decrease in value of the future reward. Discount rates vary relative to individual, situational, and contextual differences. Previous research has studied the roles of future time perspective and stress on decision making, but very few have investigated both factors in relation to delay discounting. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of future orientation and stress on delay discounting. Forty-nine participants were recruited through social media sites and online college classes. We evaluated future orientation with the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999), stress with the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen et al., 1983), and discounting rates using the Kirby Monetary Choice Questionnaire (Kirby, Petry, & Bickel, 1999); data was collected using online versions of these questionnaires. Results indicated no main effects for the influence of future orientation or perceived stress on discounting rates. However, there was a significant interaction between future orientation and perceived stress in relation to the delay discounting measure. Perceived stress became more relevant and important in decision making when individuals were more future oriented. More specifically, in highly future oriented individuals, stress was a significant mediator and moderate predictor of delay discounting performance. Thus, individual appraisal of stress should be strongly considered in time perspective and decision making research as well as in cognitive and behavioral assessment