Temporal Frames of Life Expectancy
(A2025-126245)

AUTHORS

David Faro, London Business School; Ozlem Tetik, London Business School; Shlomo Benartzi, UCLA Anderson School of Management; HAL HERSHFIELD, UCLA; Stephen Shu, CORNELL UNIVERSITY

ABSTRACT

Population statistics on how long a person is expected to live, or live in good health, are typically presented in future-age frame (e.g., until the age of 84) or in time-left frame (e.g., 34 more years). We show that time-left frame makes the total interval feel shorter than future-age frame. This effect can occur because time-left frame leads people to assess whether the remaining time would suffice to achieve one’s goals. A field study shows that then people learn about the interval in time-left (vs. future-age) frame, they are more interested in improving their health.