Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35113618›Full record

SynthesisPsychology and aging2022

Temporal discounting across adulthood: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Kendra L Seaman, Sade J Abiodun, Zöe Fenn, Gregory R Samanez-Larkin, Rui Mata

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Psychology and aging, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Domain-specific discounting of health and money: implications for health technology assessment.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Age, income, and the discounting of delayed monetary losses.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Mechanisms of Self-Regulatory Decline in Accusatorial Interrogations.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Social Effort Discounting Reveals Domain-General and Social-Specific Motivation Components.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2025
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Convergence of Age Differences in Risk Preference, Impulsivity, and Self-Control: A Multiverse Analysis.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2024
    Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Aging and Economic Preferences: Cumulative Meta-Analyses of Age Differences in Risk, Time, Social, and Effort Preferences.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2023
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Kendra L SeamanDepartment of Psychology, University of Texas at Dallas.ORCID 0000-0003-3008-923X
Sade J AbiodunCenter for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University.ORCID 0000-0003-4406-0366
Zöe FennDepartment of Psychology, University of Basel.ORCID 0000-0003-1830-5702
Gregory R Samanez-LarkinCenter for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University.ORCID 0000-0001-7846-3804
Rui MataDepartment of Psychology, University of Basel.ORCID 0000-0002-1679-906X

Funding

BEHAVIOR AND PHYSIOLOGY IN AGINGT32AG000029 · NIA · DUKE UNIVERSITY · PI Maria Marquine · 1985 to 2026
$9.3M
Dopaminergic Modulation of Subjective Valuation across AdulthoodR01AG044838 · NIA · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · PI ZALD, DAVID HAROLD · 2012 to 2014
$1.6M
Neuromodulation of Motivated Cognition and Decision Making Across AdulthoodR00AG042596 · NIA · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI SAMANEZ LARKIN, GREGORY R · 2014 to 2016
$730k
NIA NIH HHS R00 AG042596NIA NIH HHS R01 AG044838NIA NIH HHS T32 AG000029NIH HHS
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A number of developmental theories have been proposed that make differential predictions about the links between age and temporal discounting, or the devaluation of future rewards. Most empirical studies examining adult age differences in temporal discounting have relied on economic intertemporal choice tasks, which pit choosing a smaller, sooner monetary reward against choosing a larger, later one. Although initial studies using these tasks suggested older adults discount less than younger adults, follow-up studies provided heterogeneous, and thus inconclusive, results. Using an open science approach, we test the replicability of adult age differences in temporal discounting by conducting a preregistered systematic literature search and meta-analysis of adult age differences in intertemporal choice tasks. Across 37 cross-sectional studies (Total N = 104,737), a planned meta-analysis found no sizeable relation between age and temporal discounting, r = -0.068, 95% CI [-0.170, 0.035]. We also found little evidence of publication bias or p-hacking. Exploratory analyses of moderators found no effect of research design (e.g., extreme-group vs. continuous age), incentives (hypothetical vs. real rewards), duration of delay (e.g., days, weeks, months, or years), or quantification of discounting behavior (e.g., proportion of immediate choices vs. parameters from computational modeling). Additional analyses of 12 participant-level data sets found little support for a nonlinear relation between age and temporal discounting across adulthood. Overall, the results suggest that younger, middle-aged, and older adults show similar preferences for smaller, sooner over larger, later rewards. We provide recommendations for future empirical work on temporal discounting across the adult life span. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Indexed as

Delay DiscountingAdultAgedAgingChoice BehaviorCross-Sectional StudiesHumansMiddle AgedMotivationReward

Identifiers

PMID35113618
PMCPMC8827494

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.