Temporal discounting and self-continuity: Age-dependent patterns and implications

Abstract

Intertemporal decision-making is a common aspect of everyday life. People often prefer receiving a smaller immediate reward rather than the larger one that comes later, a behaviour known as temporal discounting. Previous studies have suggested that self-continuity plays a role in temporal discounting; however, the effect of age on temporal discounting and self-continuity remains unclear. This study aimed to explore how age relates to the connection between self-continuity and temporal discounting. A total of sixty-seven younger and fifty-two older adults completed tasks assessing temporal discounting and both explicit and implicit self-continuity. The findings revealed that older adults exhibit higher discounting rates and greater self-continuity compared to their younger counterparts. Specifically, younger adults aged 23 to 29 demonstrated a negative association between explicit future self-continuity and temporal discounting, suggesting that higher explicit future self-continuity corresponds with reduced temporal discounting. Conversely, this relationship was not observed in older adults, indicating age-specific differences in how self-continuity influences intertemporal decision-making. Additionally, while previous research has linked implicit self-continuity to temporal discounting, this study found no age-related differences in implicit measures. These findings highlight the complex interplay between self-continuity and intertemporal decision-making across the lifespan, emphasising the need for further research to inform interventions for older adults.