Delay discounting occurs when an individual prefers a lesser
amount of an outcome that is available immediately, rather than waiting
for the full amount. The present study was a preliminary investigation into
delay discounting in a yet unstudied population, American Indians (AIs).
AI college students completed a delay-discounting task that consisted of
fi ve different outcomes (e.g., money, retirement income, obtaining the ideal
body image). An equal-sized group of Caucasian respondents was then
matched to the AI sample in terms of sex, age, and grade point average.
Results demonstrated that AI and Caucasian respondents sometimes
differed in how they discounted certain outcomes, suggesting that the
value of these outcomes may differ across ethnicities. Further, the AI
participants displayed different rates of discounting across the different
outcomes, indicating that those outcomes may hold different values for the
AI respondents. The potential value of delay discounting in understanding
cross-cultural and intra-cultural differences is discussed and, because of the
preliminary nature of the present study, a call for additional research is made.