Interpersonal relatedness and temporal discounting. (June 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gan, Yiqun; Zheng, Lei; He, Xiaolu; Cheung, Fanny M.
• Is Part Of: Journal of social and personal relationships. Volume 36:Number 6(2019)
• Page Start: 1695
• Page End: 1714
• Publication Date: 2019-06
• Subjects: Interpersonal exclusion -- interpersonal relatedness -- temporal discounting; Interpersonal relations -- Periodicals; Social interaction -- Periodicals; 302.05
• DOI: 10.1177/0265407518770907
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0265-4075

Abstract

The present two studies tested the hypothesis that interpersonal relatedness (IR) affects temporal discounting differently in different interpersonal situations. Using two samples of Chinese university students, interpersonal exclusion was primed among one group of participants, whereas a control group received neutral priming. After priming, participants performed a delay discounting task (Study 1; N = 111) or a prioritizing task (Study 2; N = 108). The results revealed a main effect of IR such that individuals high in IR exhibited lower temporal discounting (Study 1) and made fewer smaller but sooner (SS) choices (Study 2). Additionally, IR interacted with priming condition to predict discounting rates and the number of SS choices made. Specifically, across both studies, the high IR, neutral priming condition was associated with the greatest future focus (i.e., delayed or larger but later choices). In both the delay discounting task and the prioritizing task, the stress priming condition eliminated the advantage of being high in IR. The results of these studies provide preliminary evidence that IR can influence temporal discounting in a direct and dynamic way.