Outcome- and sign-dependent time preferences: An incentivized intertemporal choice experiment involving effort and money

Previous research consistently identified differences in time preferences between effort and monetary decisions. However, the root cause of this difference- whether it stemmed from the intrinsic nature of the outcomes or the associated pleasurable or unpleasurable experiences-remained undefined. In response, we devised a novel two-stage experiment employing a 2 × 2 design contrasting outcomes (money and effort) and domains (pleasant and unpleasant). This approach allowed for the incentivization of all decisions, including those involving future monetary losses. Our study reveals sign-dependent preferences, showing varying degrees of impatience across pleasant or unpleasant experiences in monetary or effort-related choices. We also observed outcome-dependent preferences, particularly highlighting a higher level of impatience in unpleasant monetary choices compared with their effort-based counterparts. However, the degree of present bias did not differ across the four conditions.