Delayed reward discounting describes the tendency to value an immediate reward more strongly than a larger reward that will arrive later.
“DRD is a behavioral economic index of impulsivity”
“a greater preference for smaller-immediate rewards over larger-delayed rewards”
A person can care about a future goal and still choose the smaller reward that is available now. The problem is not always that the future goal has no value. Its reward may simply feel too distant in that moment.
Immediate reward and long-term reward
Immediate reward
- Available now
- Requires little waiting
- Can provide quick comfort
- Consequences may arrive later
Long-term reward
- Requires patience
- Progress may feel slow
- Depends on repeated effort
- Can create a larger future benefit
How Delay Can Lower the Felt Value of a Reward
The line shows the general shape described by discounting research: the value a reward feels like it has drops quickly as the wait gets longer, then levels off. A goal that pays off next semester can feel much weaker than a reward available in the next ten seconds, even when the later goal is objectively larger.
This is a conceptual illustration created for this project. It does not display original collected data or numbers taken from any study.
Original visual created for this project.
In other words
The problem is not that future goals have no value. It is that their value can feel weaker in the moment because the reward is far away. The same person can care deeply about a degree or a career and still choose the smaller, sooner reward.
Sources Used on This Page
MacKillop, J., Amlung, M. T., Few, L. R., Ray, L. A., Sweet, L. H., & Munafò, M. R. (2011). Delayed reward discounting and addictive behavior: A meta-analysis. Psychopharmacology, 216(3), 305–321. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-011-2229-0
Weinsztok, S., Brassard, S., Balodis, I., Martin, L. E., & Amlung, M. (2021). Delay discounting in established and proposed behavioral addictions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 15, Article 786358. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.786358
Image credit: Original illustration created for this project by the author.