Can Patience Be Learned? Habit Formation and Intertemporal Preferences

Last registered on May 14, 2025
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Can Patience Be Learned? Habit Formation and Intertemporal Preferences
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015960
Initial registration date
May 07, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
May 14, 2025, 10:38 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
China
Region
Beijing

Primary Investigator

Name
Yu Gao
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Zheng Huang
PI Affiliation
Peking University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2025-04-21
End date
2025-06-23
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
Time discounting, time preference, habit formation, present-focus
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Patience is a critical determinant of intertemporal decision-making, influencing individual well-being and socioeconomic outcomes. While traditional interventions (e.g., monetary incentives, commitment devices) have been explored, their long-term effectiveness and cost-efficiency remain limited. Recent behavioral economics literature suggests that experiential factors may shape preferences, yet their application on time domain remain under-explored. This study investigates how experiences influence intertemporal patience, using allocating real-effort tasks to different time points.
We test whether exogenous patience experiences (e.g., randomly enforced working more at the present, due to task design) increase subsequent patience, contrasting with control groups where present-focused revisions reinforce impatience.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Gao, Yu and Zheng Huang. 2025. "Can Patience Be Learned? Habit Formation and Intertemporal Preferences." AEA RCT Registry. May 14. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15960-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Task1: At T0, all participants allocate real-effort tasks to two time points using Convex Time Budgets, T1 and T2 (referred to as the original plan).
Task2: At T1, all participants allocate again, to T1 and T2 (referred to as the revised plan).
1) The treatment group: implement the original plan
2) The control group: implement the revised plan
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2025-04-28
Intervention End Date
2025-06-09

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
After the treatment, participants will complete the same tasks (Task1 and Task2) again. We will measure their intertemporal patience via incentivized choices (coding tasks), and present-bias.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Exogenous patience experiences (e.g., being forced to wait due to random external factors) could lead to a lasting increase in patience by:
1. Belief Updating: Individuals may attribute their successful patience to internal traits ("I am a patient person"), reinforcing future patience.
2. Habit Formation: Repeated exposure to patience-inducing situations may normalize delayed gratification.
Conversely, the control group’s present-focused revisions (e.g., abandoning plans due to impatience) might reinforce impulsive tendencies, creating a divergence in patience levels over time.

All participants will be approached weekly in a two-month period, on each Monday.

Week1: Task1: At T0, all participants allocate real-effort tasks to two time points using Convex Time Budgets, T1 and T2 (referred to as the original plan).
Week 2: Task2: At T1, all participants allocate again, to T1 and T2 (referred to as the revised plan).
1) The treatment group: implement the original plan
2) The control group: implement the revised plan
Complete the task assigned to T1.

Week 3:Complete the tasks assigned to T2.
Week 4-6, replicate Week 1-3.
Week 7-9, replicate again, also use a different task (vocabulary memorizing).
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
around 480 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
around 480 individuals, each provide three sets of time preference measurements
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
240 per treatment arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
PKU GSM-IRB
IRB Approval Date
2025-05-05
IRB Approval Number
2025-15
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials