Economic situation and time discounting: Does construal level matter?

A promising factor in explaining the relationship between the economic situation and time preferences is one’s construal level (i.e., the abstractness/concreteness of thinking). In this preregistered experiment (N = 252), A) the effects of construal level manipulation on time discounting as well as B) the relationship between the economic situation and time discounting were examined in tasks involving both real incentives and hypothetical rewards. The objective economic situation but not the subjective economic situation was found to significantly predict delay discounting in the hypothetical scenario, however, neither of the two significantly predicted delay discounting in the task with the real monetary reward. Although there was also a small effect of construal level manipulation on one’s time preferences concerning hypothetical (but not real) rewards, we remain sceptical about this finding. Crucially, it was found that in comparison to the condition without any mindset induction, both low and high construal level manipulation led to more patient decisions-making in the task involving hypothetical rewards. Further replication attempts on this topic are needed and recommended.