IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/soceco/v109y2024ics2214804323001866.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How time flies: Time perception and intertemporal choice

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Xiu
  • Zhao, Xiaojian

Abstract

This paper identifies a potential gap between time preference and intertemporal choices such as time discounting tasks: The intertemporal choices could be partly driven by a biased perception of time and thus may not completely reveal actual time preference. To test this, we explore the causal relationship between time perception and intertemporal choices by conducting a laboratory experiment in which cognitive load is used as a stimulating instrument to induce differences in time perception. We establish that the perceived time lengths for subjects with high cognitive load are shorter than those with low cognitive load and that individuals who underestimate time appear more patient in their intertemporal choices. Mediation analyses show that time perception mediates a significant portion of cognitive load’s effect on intertemporal choices. Our study thus demonstrates that time preference identified by intertemporal choices might be confounded by potentially biased time perception, calling for improving suboptimal time-related economic decisions due to an individual’s misperception of how time flies.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Xiu & Zhao, Xiaojian, 2024. "How time flies: Time perception and intertemporal choice," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:109:y:2024:i:c:s2214804323001866
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2023.102160
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214804323001866
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socec.2023.102160?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Time perception; Intertemporal choice; Time discounting; Cognitive load;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:109:y:2024:i:c:s2214804323001866. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620175 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.