Delay of Consequences and the Riskiness of Decisions

Authors

C. Anderson Johnson, Claremont Graduate UniversityFollow
Edward E. Jones, Duke University

Document Type

Article

Department

Community and Global Health (CGU)

Publication Date

12-1973

Disciplines

Applied Behavior Analysis | Mental and Social Health | Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

People often make decisions which commit them to a course of actions whose consequences will be suffered or enjoyed at some later time The present experiments were designed to explore whether the length of the interval between decision and consequence might affect the amount of risk the decision-maker is willing to tolerate. The basic hypothesis of the study can be presented simply: The greater the delay between making a decision and experiencing its consequences, the greater the tendency to choose risky rather than conservative decision alternatives.

Rights Information

© 1973 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

DOI

10.1111/j.1467-6494.1973.tb00114.x

Recommended Citation

Jones, E.E., & Johnson, C.A. Delay of consequences and the riskiness of decisions. J Pers, 41 (4), 613-637, 1973.