On May 12, 2008, a major magnitude-8.0 earthquake shook Wenchuan, China. An opportunity sample of 104 college students was obtained to conduct a within-subject study investigating the influence of the earthquake on intertemporal choices. The findings indicated that after the earthquake, delayed gains were discounted significantly more steeply than before it, and that delayed losses tended to be discounted more steeply after the earthquake, although this tendency did not reach statistical significance. These results suggest that after the disaster, people might be more shortsighted when they make decisions with intertemporal tradeoffs. Implications of these findings for intervention and management in the aftermath of disasters are discussed
