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Deliberating trade-offs with the future

Author

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  • Adam Bulley

    (Harvard University
    The University of Sydney, School of Psychology and Brain and Mind Centre)

  • Daniel L. Schacter

    (Harvard University)

Abstract

Many fundamental choices in life are intertemporal: they involve trade-offs between sooner and later outcomes. In recent years there has been a surge of interest into how people make intertemporal decisions, given that such decisions are ubiquitous in everyday life and central in domains from substance use to climate change action. While it is clear that people make decisions according to rules, intuitions and habits, they also commonly deliberate over their options, thinking through potential outcomes and reflecting on their own preferences. In this Perspective, we bring to bear recent research into the higher-order capacities that underpin deliberation—particularly those that enable people to think about the future (prospection) and their own thinking (metacognition)—to shed light on intertemporal decision-making. We show how a greater appreciation for these mechanisms of deliberation promises to advance our understanding of intertemporal decision-making and unify a wide range of otherwise disparate choice phenomena.

Suggested Citation

  • Adam Bulley & Daniel L. Schacter, 2020. "Deliberating trade-offs with the future," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(3), pages 238-247, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:4:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1038_s41562-020-0834-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-020-0834-9
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    Cited by:

    1. Ryuta Aoki & Ayahito Ito & Keise Izuma & Tatsuyoshi Saijo, 2020. "How can neuroscience contribute to the science of intergenerational sustainability?," Working Papers SDES-2020-11, Kochi University of Technology, School of Economics and Management, revised Aug 2020.
    2. Karl, Marion & Chien, P. Monica & Ong, Faith, 2021. "Impulse buying behaviour in tourism: A new perspective," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    3. Wee-Kheng Tan & Ping-Hsin Liao, 2021. "What triggers usage of gift-giving apps? A comparison between users and non-users," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 15(3), pages 515-538, September.
    4. Karl, Marion & Kock, Florian & Ritchie, Brent W. & Gauss, Jana, 2021. "Affective forecasting and travel decision-making: An investigation in times of a pandemic," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    5. Sara Garofalo & Luigi A. E. Degni & Manuela Sellitto & Davide Braghittoni & Francesca Starita & Sara Giovagnoli & Giuseppe di Pellegrino & Mariagrazia Benassi, 2022. "Unifying Evidence on Delay Discounting: Open Task, Analysis Tutorial, and Normative Data from an Italian Sample," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-15, February.

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