Positive Affect, Mood Salience, and Intertemporal Decisions
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Date
2011-04-12T15:43:27Z
Authors
Norouzi, Bahar
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Waterloo
Abstract
The focus of this thesis is to explore the impact of positive affective state and mood
salience on intertemporal decision making. We found that positive affect significantly influence
intertemporal preference. We also found that when current mood becomes salient to the decision
maker, the direction of preference changes. Specifically, we hypothesized and found that
individuals with positive mood are more likely to choose the later larger (long term) rewards
than the individuals with a neutral mood. We discuss three factors that could explain choice
behaviour in such situations. These factors are the willingness to maintain positive mood,
temporal orientation and risk perception, and increase in the level of dopamine in brain.
Moreover, our results indicate that when current positive mood is salient, individuals become
more concerned about their affective state, and are more likely to engage in affect regulation, and
as a result, more likely to prefer the sooner smaller (immediate) rewards. These findings suggest
that experiencing positive affect would increase patience and self-control. However, this is the
case when the level of mood salience is not high. When individuals’ attention is directed to their
emotional states, they tend to choose sooner smaller rewards that could assist them in keeping
their good mood and avoiding negative feelings.
Description
Keywords
Intertemporal choice, Positive affect, Mood salience, Decision making