present bias
PREZ-unt BY-us
ˈprɛzənt ˈbaɪəsListen
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Dictionary meaning
the tendency to overvalue immediate rewards relative to future rewards, even when an individual's own stated preferences indicate they would prefer the future outcome if they could think about it abstractly; present bias is related to hyperbolic discounting and helps explain procrastination, failure to save for retirement, unhealthy eating despite the intention to diet, and other cases where short-term impulses override long-term goals; it is distinct from rational time preference (appropriately valuing present goods more than future goods) in that it produces time-inconsistent choices — decisions made today that the same person will wish they had not made tomorrow
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