Community trust reduces myopic decisions of low-income individuals.

Why do the poor make shortsighted choices in decisions that involve delayed payoffs? Foregoing immediate rewards for larger, later rewards requires that decision makers () believe future payoffs will occur and () are not forced to take the immediate reward out of financial need. Low-income individuals may be both less likely to believe future payoffs will occur and less able to forego immediate rewards due to higher financial need; they may thus appear to discount the future more heavily. We propose that trust in one's community-which, unlike generalized trust, we find does not covary with levels of income-can partially offset the effects of low income on myopic decisions.