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The Relationship Between Delay and Social Discounting, and Body Mass Index in University Students

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Abstract

Delay discounting is associated with body mass index (BMI), with individuals who discount more having higher BMIs. This same relationship was found when a social component was added during a social temporal discounting procedure. However, no study has tested whether the social component by itself is related to BMI. The current study tested the relationships between social discounting, delay discounting, and BMI. Eight hundred seven undergraduates completed delay and social discounting measures, and a demographic questionnaire from which BMI was calculated. Social discounting was not significantly related to age-adjusted or non-age-adjusted BMI. However, using non-age-adjusted BMI scores and dichotomizing individuals as either non-obese/obese resulted in a significant relationship between social discounting and BMI in the predicted direction, whereby participants with a higher BMI shared significantly more than non-obese individuals. Consistent with previous research, there was a significant relationship between delay discounting and BMI, and a significant correlation between delay and social discounting. Additionally, participants with low BMI (< 18.5) appeared to substantially contribute to the significant results. The current results replicated a previous delay discounting and BMI relationship, but also demonstrate the need to standardize how BMI is calculated and focus on participants with low BMI in relation to discounting measures.

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Notes

  1. Analyses were re-run including all participants that provided a delay and social discounting score (i.e., including all inconsistent and non-systematic discounters), but without the 14 participants with invalid social discounting SurveyMonkey data (n = 787). This analyses showed one different outcome. Unlike the results reported with the exclusion criteria in place (n = 437), there was not a statistically significant difference for the non-adjusted BMI delay discounting outcome F(3, 783) = 1.64, p = 0.179. However, when collapsing BMI groups into either lower or higher weight, this difference was now statistically significant t(785) = − 2.25, p = 0.025. Consistent with the results using the exclusion criteria, there was not a significant difference for the non-adjusted BMI social discounting outcome F(3, 783) = 2.166, p = 0.091. Collapsing the BMI groups into either lower or higher weight still resulted in a significant social discounting difference t(785) = − 1.449, p = 0.015.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX, 78249-0652, USA

    Katherine Wainwright, Breanna E. Green & Paul Romanowich

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  1. Katherine Wainwright
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Wainwright, K., Green, B.E. & Romanowich, P. The Relationship Between Delay and Social Discounting, and Body Mass Index in University Students. Psychol Rec 68, 441–449 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-018-0287-y

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