Measuring Impatience: Elicited Discount Rates and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale

McLeish, Kendra N and Oxoby, Robert J (2006): Measuring Impatience: Elicited Discount Rates and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. Forthcoming in: Personality and Individual Differences (2007)

Abstract

We explore intertemporal decision making to test the extent to which elicited discount rates and a self-reported scale of impatience measure the same behavioral characteristic. We conduct experiments in which we elicit discount rates using monetary rewards and a self-reported measure of impatience (the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, BIS-11). Although researchers have utilized these measures to infer aspects of intertemporal preferences, we find no significant correlation between discount rates and the BIS-11 except in the special case where discount rates were elicited after individuals were primed with negative feedback.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Institution: University of Calgary
• Language: English
• Keywords: intertemporal choice; impulsiveness; discounting; experiments
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C9 - Design of Experiments; D - Microeconomics > D9 - Intertemporal Choice

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