title: Time management problems and discounted utility.
abstract: The lens of behavioral decision theory offers a new perspective for research on time management. The basic idea of this approach is that people discount future consequences of their time management decisions, meaning that they work on tasks with smaller but sooner outcomes rather than on tasks with larger but later outcomes. The authors performed 2 experimental studies to test whether people are sensitive to differences in the discounted utility of time management decisions. In Experiment 1, they used vignettes of typical time management situations; Experiment 2 was a laboratory simulation (an in-basket task that was part of a training assessment). Participants in both studies were German students. As expected, manipulating the discounted utility of options resulted in different time management decisions. In Experiment 1, reactions to time management situations were judged as less likely if the reactions had lower discounted utilities. In Experiment 2, people spent less time on an interruption.
authors.affiliation: University of Zürich, Switzerland. c.koenig@psychologie.unizh.ch
authors.forename: Cornelius J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: König
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kleinmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017748:Time Management / Q000523:psychology*