According to the positive temporal discounting theory and our relevant observations, when faced with future losses, people should, and do, prefer delayed negative events (e.g., deferring paying taxes, debts, or tickets), which can lead to substantial individual and societal costs. However, a counterexample has been identified and it appears to depart from the prediction of positive temporal discounting when faced with negative events. This study proposed and investigated the novel free from care account for the reverse preference. Results of five laboratory and field studies showed that students preferred an immediate negative event (i.e., an English oral exam) when “something tying one up” was imposed, in which coping with a distraction induced by such a situation could play a mediating role. In particular, the addition of “something tying one up” was found to be an effective behavioral nudge in terms of reliability and reproducibility and should be simple for potential users to follow. Specifically, the association between being tied up and undergoing a negative event immediately in the present studies mirrored the association between outgroup threat and intergroup cooperation in the Robbers Cave experiment.

中文翻译：

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早出发，早复兴：负时间贴现的“无忧无虑”解释

根据正时间贴现理论和我们的相关观察，当面临未来的损失时，人们应该并且确实更喜欢延迟的负面事件（例如，推迟支付税款、债务或门票），这可能导致大量的个人和社会成本. 然而，已经确定了一个反例，它似乎偏离了面对负面事件时正时间折扣的预测。本研究针对反向偏好提出并调查了无忧无虑的小说。五项实验室和实地研究的结果表明，当被强加“东西束缚”时，学生更喜欢直接的负面事件（即英语口试），其中应对由这种情况引起的分心可以起到中介作用。特别是，就可靠性和可重复性而言，添加“东西捆绑”被发现是一种有效的行为推动，并且对于潜在用户来说应该很容易遵循。具体而言，在本研究中被捆绑和立即经历负面事件之间的关联反映了 Robbers Cave 实验中外群体威胁与群体间合作之间的关联。