Sweet-taste liking is associated with preference for less risky and immediate rewards in economic decision-making.

Background: Delay discounting refers to the tendency to choose sooner, smaller rewards over larger, later rewards. Many previous studies link this tendency positively to reward sensitivity, yet the specific mechanisms behind this association remain poorly understood. Reward sensitivity may relate to delay discounting through at least three possible pathways: increased sensitivity to reward size, increased sensitivity to reward immediacy, or increased sensitivity to risk. In this study, we use a biologically grounded measure of reward sensitivity, reflected by hedonic preference for sweet taste, to identify which of these mechanisms may be involved in the relationship between reward sensitivity and delay discounting. Methods: In the first experiment ( Results: In Experiment 1, sweet-likers were more risk-aversive compared to sweet-dislikers in a lottery choice task, although no such effect was observed in the BART task. The same tendency toward risk aversion was observed in Experiment 2. In the delay discounting task, sweet-liking participants showed greater preference for sooner smaller reward which was associated with increased sensitivity to the reward immediacy, and not reward size. However, this relationship was partly explained by the greater risk aversion of the sweet-likers compared to sweet-dislikers. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the positive relationship between reward sensitivity and impulsivity may be explained by a stronger preference for certain rewards, rather than a heightened desire for immediate rewards.