Affect Predicts Momentary Changes in Intertemporal Choice During Daily Life: Evidence from an Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

Temporal discounting, the tendency to value immediate rewards over larger future rewards, is typically considered a trait measure. However, using a 7-day ecological momentary assessment protocol, we found that individuals' discount rates varied throughout their daily lives, and that higher momentary discount rates were associated with experiences of more pleasant and lower arousal affect.