Poverty, Stress, and Discounting: A potential micro-mechanism for behavior change

贫困、压力和折扣：行为改变的潜在微观机制

基本信息

批准号：
8067521
负责人：
Ernst Fehr
金额：
$ 24.76万
依托单位：
UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2010
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2010-09-30 至 2015-08-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8067521
关键词：
Address Adverse effects Affect Alcoholism Altruism Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Behavior Behavioral Mechanisms Cognitive Complement Data Decision Making Developed Countries Developing Countries Development Disease Droughts Ecology Economics Education Elements Endowment Etiology Evolution Family Gambling Health Insurance Household Hydrocortisone Impulsivity Income Insurance Intervention Investments Kenya Laboratories Lead Link Measures Medical Natural experiment Neurobiology Nicotine Dependence Norepinephrine Outcome Participant Personal Satisfaction Persons Poverty Preparation Questionnaires Randomized Randomized Controlled Trials Recording of previous events Relative (related person)Research Rewards Savings Shapes Shock Social Welfare Stress Stress Tests Testing Time Trier Social Stress Test Vision alpha-amylase behavior change cytokine discount discounting economic behavior economic outcome experience improved interest intervention effect novel poverty alleviation preference psychologic psychological outcomes research study socioeconomics stressor trait

项目摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Persons affected by conditions as diverse as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, compulsive gambling behavior, nicotine addiction, and alcoholism share a common trait: abnormally high impulsivity. In particular, they tend to prefer immediate to delayed rewards. This decrease of subjective value over time is referred to as temporal discounting. Steep temporal discounting has been shown to be associated with negative outcomes, and interventions that reduce discounting have shown positive welfare effects. Surprisingly, however, very little evidence exists of how temporal preferences arise and which environmental forces shape them. This application tests a simple hypothesis of how short-sighted temporal preferences could arise endogenously. Specifically, we hypothesize that poverty leads to stress, stress leads to short-sighted temporal preferences, and short-sighted preferences in turn reinforce poverty. Thus, our application seeks to identify a potential micro-mechanism for behavioral change. To establish the generality of this mechanism, we will conduct experiments in both developing and developed countries, both in the laboratory and in the field; we aim to establish causality in all studies, and employ novel measures of welfare (cortisol and cytokines). First, in a laboratory experiment, we ask whether stress has a causal effect on temporal discounting; we induce stress in participants and subsequently measure its effect on temporal discounting. This experiment will reveal whether stress leads to short-sighted decision-making. In the second study, we ask whether poverty causes stress and short-sighted choices. We develop a novel laboratory paradigm that mimics some features of poverty, and then ask a) whether this manipulation increases levels of the stress markers cortisol and alpha-amylase, and b) whether "poorer" people show higher temporal discounting than others. This result would suggest that poverty may cause stress and short-sighted choices. The third study takes place in the field, and in a developing country, and asks for the causal effect of a poverty increase on behavior. We take advantage of a unique natural experiment among the Maasai of Southern Kenya: using rainfall data as an instrumental variable, we can identify the causal effect of an exogenous increase in poverty on stress and temporal discounting. Finally, the fourth study tests the converse question, namely the effects of an exogenous decrease in poverty decreases stress and leads to more far-sighted decision-making. This study will consist of a randomized controlled trial in Kenya, in which randomly selected poor households receive an unconditional cash transfer, free health insurance, or no intervention. Through these exogenous interventions, we can identify the causal effect of poverty alleviation on behavior. Together, these studies will answer whether the candidate mechanism for short-sighted decision-making outlined above withstands causal scrutiny, and thus identify a potential micro-level mechanism for behavioral change. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Poor health-related behaviors are strongly associated with short-sighted decision-making. Short-sighted decision-making, in turn, is associated with poverty and stress, but it is unclear whether these variables are causally related. This application tests a potential mechanism through which short-sighted decisions might come about: if poverty increases stress, and stress leads to short-sighted choices, this mechanism might provide a starting point for interventions that improve health-related behavior through reducing short-sighted decision-making.

描述（由申请人提供）：受到注意力缺陷多动障碍，强迫性赌博行为，尼古丁成瘾和酒精中毒的影响的人具有共同的特征：异常高的冲动性。特别是，他们倾向于立即而不是延迟的奖励。随着时间的推移，主观价值的下降称为时间折扣。陡峭的时间折扣已被证明与负面结果有关，减少折扣的干预措施已显示出积极的福利效果。然而，令人惊讶的是，几乎没有证据表明时间偏好的出现以及哪些环境力量塑造它们。该应用程序检验了一个简单的假设，即在内源性的时间偏爱中如何出现短视的时间偏好。具体而言，我们假设贫穷会导致压力，压力导致短视的时间偏好，而短视偏好反过来又加剧了贫困。因此，我们的应用程序旨在确定行为改变的潜在微观机制。为了建立这种机制的普遍性，我们将在实验室和现场的发展中国家和发达国家进行实验。我们旨在在所有研究中建立因果关系，并采用新颖的福利措施（皮质醇和细胞因子）。首先，在实验室实验中，我们询问压力是否对时间折扣有因果影响；我们引起参与者的压力，然后衡量其对时间折扣的影响。该实验将揭示压力是否导致短视决策。在第二项研究中，我们询问贫困是否会导致压力和短视选择。我们开发了一种模仿某些贫困特征的新型实验室范式，然后询问a）这种操纵是否会增加压力标记的皮质醇和α-淀粉酶的水平，b）“贫穷”的人是否比其他人表现出更高的时间折扣。该结果表明贫困可能会导致压力和短视选择。第三项研究发生在该领域和发展中国家，并要求贫困对行为增加的因果影响。我们利用了肯尼亚南部马赛的独特自然实验：将降雨数据作为工具变量，我们可以确定贫困对压力和时间折扣的外在增加的因果关系。最后，第四项研究检验了相反的问题，即贫困减少外源的影响会减轻压力，并导致更远见的决策。这项研究将包括肯尼亚的一项随机对照试验，其中随机选择的贫困家庭将获得无条件的现金转移，免费健康保险或不干预。通过这些外源干预措施，我们可以确定减轻贫困对行为的因果影响。这些研究将共同回答上面概述的短视觉决策的候选机制是否应承受因果审查，从而确定了行为改变的潜在微观级别机制。公共卫生相关性：与健康相关的行为差与短视决策密切相关。反视远的决策反过来与贫困和压力有关，但尚不清楚这些变量是否有因果关系。该申请测试了一种潜在的机制，可以通过短视决策来实现：如果贫困增加压力，而压力会导致短视选择，则这种机制可能会为干预措施提供一个起点，从而通过减少短视决策来改善与健康相关的行为。