Abstract: Mainstream models on intertemporal choice assume that a temporal discounting process occurs when people choose between outcomes occurring at different times in an intertemporal choice. Temporal discounting refers to people's tendency to discount the value of delayed outcomes by the amount of time one must wait for them, thereby reducing the subjective value of these future outcomes. The negative discounting phenomenon, which was found in money and non-money domains with benefits and losses, violates the temporal discounting process and can possibly be explained by anticipated emotion. While most studies on negative discounting have attempted to understand this phenomenon, only few have directly verified its mechanism. Researchers should explore such mechanism by using fMRI techniques and further investigate its influencing factors.

Key words: negative discounting, gain, loss, anticipated dread, anticipated savoring