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Association between mindfulness and risk and time preferences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

Sébastien Duchêne Open the ORCID record for Sébastien Duchêne [Opens in a new window] ,
Marlène Guillon Open the ORCID record for Marlène Guillon [Opens in a new window]  and
Ismaël Rafaï Open the ORCID record for Ismaël Rafaï [Opens in a new window]
Sébastien Duchêne
Affiliation:
Montpellier Business School, 2300 Avenue des Moulins, Montpellier, France
Marlène Guillon*
Affiliation:
Université de Montpellier, Montpellier Recherche en Economie, Avenue Raymond Dugrand, Montpellier, France
Ismaël Rafaï
Affiliation:
Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, AMSE, 5-9 Bd Maurice Bourdet, Marseille, France CEE-M, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, INRAE, Institut Agro, Avenue Raymond Dugrand, Montpellier, France
*
marlene.guillon@umontpellier.fr
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Abstract

Many studies have investigated the role of socio-demographic factors (including gender, age, race), cognitive ability and cultural factors on time and risk preferences. Yet, research regarding the effect of mindfulness on risk and time preferences has been limited. This study investigates the association between mindfulness and time/risk preferences. We conducted a survey on a representative sample of the French adult population (N = 1154) in Spring 2020. We assessed individual mindfulness through the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), and measured time and risk preferences with incentive-compatible economic games as well as self-reported questionnaires. Our results suggest that a higher level of mindfulness is associated with higher risk aversion and patience for stated preferences, but we found no relationship for revealed ones. We also observe that a higher level of mindfulness is related to greater time consistency, as we found a negative and significant association between the MAAS and the present and future biases.

Keywords

MindfulnessRisk preferencesTime preferencesRevealed preferencesStated preferences

JEL classification

C31: Cross-Sectional Models • Spatial Models • Treatment Effect Models • Quantile Regressions • Social Interaction Models C93: Field Experiments D91: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making‡
Type
Original Paper
Information
Journal of the Economic Science Association , Volume 10 , Issue 2: Special Issue: Behavioral and Experimental Economics for Innovative Policy-Making (Articles 1 to 3) , December 2024 , pp. 199 - 212
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Economic Science Association 2024.

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