Department of Anthropology, Yale University.
Department of Psychology, Yale University.
J Exp Psychol Gen. 2020 Apr;149(4):650-661. doi: 10.1037/xge0000675. Epub 2019 Sep 12.
Risk and time preferences have often been viewed as reflecting inherent traits such as impatience and self-control. Here, we offer an alternative perspective, arguing that they are flexible and environmentally informed. In Study 1, we investigated risk and time preferences among children in the United States, India, and Argentina, as well as forager-horticulturalist Shuar children in Amazonian Ecuador. We find striking cross-cultural differences in behavior: children in India, the United States, and Argentina are more risk-seeking and future-oriented, whereas Shuar children are more risk-averse and exhibit more heterogeneous time preferences, on average preferring more today choices. To explore 1 of the socioecological forces that may be shaping these preferences, in Study 2, we compared the behavior of more and less market-integrated Shuar children, finding that those in market-integrated regions are more future-oriented and risk-seeking. These findings indicate that cross-cultural differences in risk and time preferences can be traced into childhood and may be influenced by the local environment. More broadly, our results contribute to a growing understanding of plasticity and variation in the development of behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
风险和时间偏好通常被视为反映内在特征，如急躁和自我控制。在这里，我们提供了一个替代的视角，认为它们是灵活的，受环境影响的。在研究 1 中，我们调查了美国、印度、阿根廷以及厄瓜多尔亚马逊地区的狩猎采集者舒尔儿童的风险和时间偏好。我们发现行为上存在显著的跨文化差异：印度、美国和阿根廷的儿童更倾向于冒险和面向未来，而舒尔儿童则更厌恶风险，平均而言更喜欢更多的今天选择，表现出更异质的时间偏好。为了探索可能影响这些偏好的社会生态力量之一，在研究 2 中，我们比较了更多和更少市场一体化的舒尔儿童的行为，发现那些在市场一体化地区的儿童更面向未来和冒险。这些发现表明，风险和时间偏好的跨文化差异可以追溯到童年时期，并且可能受到当地环境的影响。更广泛地说，我们的结果有助于更好地理解行为发展的可塑性和变化。
