Yamane, S., Takahashi, T.（高橋泰城）, Kamesaka, A., Tsutsui, Y., & Ohtake, F. (2013). Socio-emotional status, education, and time-discounting in Japanese non-smoking population: A multi-generational study. Psychology, 4(2), 124-132. doi:10.4236/psych.2013.42018
Recent studies in behavioral economics and neuroeconomics have revealed that emotion affects impulsivity in intertemporal choice. We examined the roles of socio-emotional status (i.e., perceived stress, depression, quality of sleep, loneliness) in temporal discounting behavior by Japanese non-smokers in a generation-specific manner (20 – 70 s) with a relatively large sample size (N = 3450). We observed that 1) both men and women are the most impulsive in their 60 s; 2) education has a negative impact on impulsivity in men aged 40 – 49 and women aged 50 – 59; 3) perceived stress has a negative impact on impulsivity in men aged 60 – 69; and 4) sleeplessness has negative and positive impacts on impulsivity in men aged 40 – 49 and women aged 30 – 39, respectively. Biological and social factors underlying observed findings are discussed.