Greed and Intertemporal Choice: An Explanation from Construal Level Theory

Li Xiaoming; Meng Yuan; Liu Xiaodan

doi:10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240521

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Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2024, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (5) : 1224-1234. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240521

Social，Personality & Organizational Psychology

Greed and Intertemporal Choice: An Explanation from Construal Level Theory

Li Xiaoming^1,2,3,4, Meng Yuan¹, Liu Xiaodan¹

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Abstract

Greed refers to the insatiable tendency and the desire to acquire more. In recent years, researchers have mainly focused on developing measures of dispositional greed and examining the psychological and behavioral outcomes associated with greed. Greed is seen as a double-edged sword for both individual and organizational development. On the one hand, greed is the driving force of socio-economic development. On the other hand, greed can harm the interests of individuals and organizations. Intertemporal decision making involves trade-offs between outcomes that occur at different points in time. In this paper, we examined the relationship between greed and intertemporal choice and revealed the mechanism from a construal-level perspective.
We conducted three studies using the self-report method (Study 1 and Study 2) and the experimental method (Study 3). Study 1 (N = 309) tested the correlation between greed and intertemporal choice. Intertemporal choice was measured by individuals' preference in the environmental protection and money choice tasks. Greed was assessed using the Dispositional Greed Scale (DGS). Study 2 (N = 426) measured greed, chronic construal level, and subjective value of delayed options in intertemporal decision making tasks, testing the mediating role of construal level in the relation between greed and intertemporal decision making. Construal level was assessed using the Behavioral Identification Form (BIF). Study 3 (N = 330) used a 3 (construal level: high vs. low vs. control; between-participants) × greed (measured) experimental design to seek further evidence for the construal level mechanism. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions (high-level construal; low-level construal; control). Participants in the high-level construal condition were asked to focus their attention on why they did something, and participants in the low-level construal condition were asked to focus attention on how they did something. We tested whether the effect of greed on intertemporal decision-making was reduced when construal levels were manipulated.
As predicted, the results demonstrated that: (1) Greed could significantly predict intertemporal choice (β = .27, p < .001). Participants high in greed were more inclined to choose the smaller-sooner options rather than the larger-later options. (2) Greed was significantly correlated with construal level (r = -.24, p < .001). Participants high in greed preferred the low-level construal. (3) Construal level played a mediating role in the relationship between greed and intertemporal decision-making (indirect effect = - .06, 95%CI= [- .11, - .03]). Greed predicted low construal level, which increased the preference for immediate rewards. (4) Objectively manipulated construal level significantly moderated the relationship between greed and intertemporal choice (ΔR² = .02). In the control group, greed had a significant negative prediction on the subjective value of the delay option (β = -.40, p < .001). However, as expected, this prediction decreased in the high-level (β = -.24, p < .05) and low-level construal conditions (β = -.10, p = .30).
In summary, the current study reveals the underlying mechanism of greed on intertemporal choice. It provides intervention strategies to inhibit the negative impact of greed from the perspective of construal level theory. Greedy people adopt low-level, concrete construal, which leads them to become more short-sighted in intertemporal choices. Improving the construal level could effectively reduce the short-sightedness of greedy people. Our findings help to understand the definition of greed and the cognitive consequences of greed. More importantly, this study provides practical implications for improving the long-term benefits of greedy people. Researchers could incorporate high-level construal cues in the environment to inhibit the short-sighted tendencies of greedy people. Future research could explore other factors that intervene in the intertemporal decision making of greedy people from a cognitive perspective.

Key words

greed / construal level / intertemporal choice

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Li Xiaoming, Meng Yuan, Liu Xiaodan. Greed and Intertemporal Choice: An Explanation from Construal Level Theory[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2024, 47(5): 1224-1234 https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240521

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