Now or not-now? The influence of alexithymia on intertemporal decision-making

作者：Scarpazza Cristina; Sellitto Manuela; di Pellegrino Giuseppe

来源：Brain and Cognition, 2017, 114: 20-28.

DOI：10.1016/j.bandc.2017.03.001

• Intertemporal choice
• Alexithymia
• Interoceptive sensitivity
• Bodily sensation
• Visceral factors
• Decision making
• Emotion
• Temporal discounting

Optimal intertemporal decisions arise from the balance between an emotional-visceral component, signaling the need for immediate gratification, and a rational, long-term oriented component. Alexithymia, a personality construct characterized by amplified sensitivity to internal bodily signals of arousal, may result in enhanced activation of the emotional-visceral component over the cognitive-rational one. To test this hypothesis, participants with high- and low-al exithymia level were compared at an intertemporal decision-making task, and their choice behavior correlated with their interoceptive sensitivity. We show that high-alexithymic tend to behave more impatiently than low-alexithymic in intertemporal decisions, particularly when the sooner reward is immediately available. Moreover, the greater their seasitivity to their own visceral sensations, the greater the impatience. Together, these results suggest a disproportionate valuation of reward available immediately in high alexithymia, possibly reflecting heightened perception of bodily physiological signals, which ultimately would bias their intertemporal decision-making.

• 出版日期2017-6