Psychological connectedness and intertemporal choice.

People tend to attach less value to a good if they know a delay will occur before they obtain it. For example, people value receiving 100 tomorrow more than receiving 00 in 10 years. We explored one reason for this tendency (due to Parfit, 1984): In terms of psychological properties, such as beliefs, values, and goals, the decision maker is more closely linked to the person (his or her future self) receiving $100 tomorrow than to the person...