Present bias
Present bias is the tendency for people to inconsistently value smaller and/or more immediate rewards over larger and/or future rewards. This bias is greatly related to hyperbolic discounting, which describes an individual's tendency to reduce the value of a future reward by a factor that increases with the length of the delay. Healthy eating is a common example of present bias. Despite the fact that people know that they would benefit from eating healthier in the long run, they prioritize the immediate gratification of unhealthy food in the present.
Relevant Academic Papers
- Bickel, W. K., Odum, A. L., & Madden, G. J. (1999). Impulsivity and cigarette smoking: delay discounting in current, never, and ex-smokers. Psychopharmacology, 146(4), 447-454.
- O'Donoghue, T., & Rabin, M. (1999). Doing it now or later. American economic review, 89(1), 103-124.
