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Gratitude: A Tool for Reducing Economic Impatience

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  • DeSteno, David
  • Li, Ye
  • Dickens, Leah
  • Lerner, Jennifer

Abstract

The human mind tends to excessively discount the value of delayed rewards relative to immediate ones, with “hot†affective processes believed to drive desires for short-term gratification. Supporting this view, recent findings demonstrate that sadness exacerbates financial impatience even when the sadness is unrelated to the economic decision at hand (Lerner, Li, & Weber, 2012). Such findings might reinforce the view that emotions must always be suppressed to combat impatience. But if emotions serve adaptive functions, then certain emotions might be capable of reducing excessive impatience for delayed rewards. We find evidence supporting this alternative view. Specifically, we find that (1) the emotion gratitude reduces impatience even with real money at stake, and (2) the effects of gratitude are differentiable from those of the more general positive state of happiness. These findings challenge the view that individuals must tamp down affective responses through effortful self-regulation to reach more patient and adaptive economic decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • DeSteno, David & Li, Ye & Dickens, Leah & Lerner, Jennifer, 2014. "Gratitude: A Tool for Reducing Economic Impatience," Scholarly Articles 12185844, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
  • Handle: RePEc:hrv:hksfac:12185844
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    2. Frans van Winden, 2021. "The Informational Affective Tie Mechanism: On the Role of Uncertainty, Context, and Attention in Caring," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 21-012/I, Tinbergen Institute.
    3. Lempert, Karolina M. & Parthasarathi, Trishala & Linhares, Samantha & Ruh, Natalia & Kable, Joseph W., 2024. "Positive autobiographical memory recall does not influence temporal discounting: An internal meta-analysis of experimental studies," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    4. Tong Zhang & Liangming Lang & Nan Zhao & Qian Lu & Bailiang Sun, 2024. "Perceived Organizational Support, Inter-Temporal Choice, and Farmer Conservation Tillage Adoption," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-29, April.
    5. Stefania Ravazzi, 2023. "Beyond plans, governance structures, and organizational strategies: how emotional mechanisms can make a difference in emergency response processes," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 56(3), pages 499-523, September.
    6. Mo Luan & Yufeng Zhang & Xiaoyu Wang, 2023. "Gratitude Reduces Regret: The Mediating Role of Temporal Focus," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-15, January.
    7. Florens Pfann & Gerard Pfann, 2024. "Can trust explain patience? A cross-country analysis," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2024 02, Stata Users Group.
    8. William B DeHart & Jonathan E Friedel & Jean M Lown & Amy L Odum, 2016. "The Effects of Financial Education on Impulsive Decision Making," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(7), pages 1-16, July.
    9. Abdelaziz Alsharawy & Sheryl Ball & Alec Smith & Ross Spoon, 2021. "Fear of COVID-19 changes economic preferences: evidence from a repeated cross-sectional MTurk survey," Journal of the Economic Science Association, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 7(2), pages 103-119, December.
    10. Tony Pickford & Liz Ellis, 2015. "The creation of interactive activity pods at a Recycling Education Centre," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 30(3), pages 370-381, May.
    11. Gui, Dan-Yang & Liu, Shixiong & Dai, Yu & Liu, Ying & Wang, Xiaoli & Huang, Huiying, 2021. "Greater patience and monetary expenditure: How shopping with companions influences purchase decisions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    12. Renata M. Heilman & Petko Kusev & Mircea Miclea & Joseph Teal & Rose Martin & Alessia Passanisi & Ugo Pace, 2021. "Are Impulsive Decisions Always Irrational? An Experimental Investigation of Impulsive Decisions in the Domains of Gains and Losses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-14, August.
    13. Lia-Ecaterina Oltean & Andrei C. Miu & Radu Șoflău & Aurora Szentágotai-Tătar, 2022. "Tailoring Gratitude Interventions. How and for Whom Do They Work? The Potential Mediating Role of Reward Processing and the Moderating Role of Childhood Adversity and Trait Gratitude," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 3007-3030, August.
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