Financial scarcity, both real and imagined, is associated with impaired executive functions and present-focused economic decisions. What is the mechanism that connects the lack of financial resources to these cognitive and behavioral effects? The present work will test the hypothesis that the experience of financial stress contributes to these deficits by reducing executive functions related to self-control and causing present-focused, real-world economic decisions. In a preliminary experiment ( = 215), we found support for the hypothesis that financial stress (as compared to social stress) causes a reduction in inhibitory control performance. In the registered study, we recruited participants ( = 1014) from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and assessed inhibitory control before and after a financial stress manipulation, and economic preferences. The results did not support the hypothesis that momentary financial stress reduces inhibitory control or alters time preference. However, chronic financial stress was associated with reduced inhibitory control and VWM, and real-world economic decisions. Several interactions between SES and the effect of conditions highlight the relevance of a person's SES in the association between affective experiences and cognitive and behavioral responses. We discuss the implications of this work for future study of the association between SES, executive function, and economic decisions.

中文翻译：

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金融压力对抑制控制和经济决策的影响


财务稀缺，无论是真实的还是想象的，都与执行功能受损和注重当前的经济决策有关。将缺乏财务资源与这些认知和行为影响联系起来的机制是什么？目前的工作将检验这样一个假设：财务压力的经历会减少与自我控制相关的执行功能，并导致关注当前的现实世界经济决策，从而导致这些赤字。在初步实验 (= 215) 中，我们发现了以下假设的支持：财务压力（与社会压力相比）会导致抑制控制绩效下降。在注册研究中，我们招募了来自不同社会经济背景的参与者 (= 1014)，并评估了财务压力操纵前后的抑制控制和经济偏好。结果并不支持短暂的财务压力会降低抑制控制或改变时间偏好的假设。然而，长期的财务压力与抑制控制和 VWM 以及现实世界经济决策的减少有关。 SES 与条件影响之间的一些相互作用凸显了一个人的 SES 在情感体验与认知和行为反应之间的关联。我们讨论了这项工作对社会经济地位、执行职能和经济决策之间关联的未来研究的影响。