{
  "abstract": "Conventional intertemporal choice measures (e.g., delay discounting) often focus on the cost of waiting for a reward. Yet, achieving many long-term health goals also requires continuously exerting self-control while forgoing an immediately rewarding alternative. To quantify these subjective costs, we introduced a novel abstinence discounting paradigm and tested it in a consequential context: nicotine use. Abstinence discounting assessed one’s preference for larger monetary rewards contingent on maintaining nicotine abstinence versus smaller, noncontingent monetary rewards that do not require abstinence. Among e-cigarette users (N = 253; Mage = 28.66, SDage = 4.22, 54.15% female, 45.85% male; 57.71% White, 20.16% Black, 9.09% Hispanic, 6.32% Mixed), abstinence discounting related more closely and consistently with nicotine dependence, craving, and cessation motivation while explaining unique variance in these outcomes beyond delay discounting. These findings support extending intertemporal choice research beyond the temporal distance of outcomes to consider the sustained self-control demands required to achieve them.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Justin Wahlers"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jonathan Westlake"
    },
    {
      "name": "Oh-Ryeong Ha"
    },
    {
      "name": "Steven Seung-Suk Kang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Delwyn Catley"
    },
    {
      "name": "Seung-Lark Lim"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5ym4jkhmcsaxx.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.31234/osf.io/uta6x_v1",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "5ym4jkhmcsaxx",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/uta6x_v1/",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "licence_label": "CC0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "bepress",
      "Clinical Psychology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Cognitive Psychology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Health Psychology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Health-related Behavior"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Judgment and Decision Making"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Social and Behavioral Sciences"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Substance Abuse and Addiction"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2737|Smoking Behavior and Cessation"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213522904",
  "pdf_url": "https://osf.io/uta6x/download",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-17",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5ym4jkhmcsaxx.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:24:33Z",
      "native_id": "uta6x",
      "source": "osf",
      "url": "https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/uta6x_v1/"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "bepress:Clinical Psychology",
      "subfield": "psychiatry"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Beyond delay: Discounting rewards for sustained self-control",
  "title_text": "Beyond delay: Discounting rewards for sustained self-control",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:24:33Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5ym4jkhmcsaxx",
  "venue": "PsyArXiv",
  "versions": []
}