Professor of Psychology & Leadership at Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). I study decision-making, social life, and how people think about the future.
May 8, 2022 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
1/6 Future discounting is a robust tendency in individual decision-making, sometimes taking the form of "present bias".
But can this individual bias explain the obesity epidemic during the last 50 years, when there is no evidence for increased present bias in the same period?
2/6 Probably not, or only a very small part of it.
As Chater & Loewenstein point out in this thoughtful working paper: Although present bias is real, historical change in obesity is more likely the product of systemic factors in society. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…
