What Are You Waiting For? Factors That Influence Patient Decisions and Experiences

In my dissertation research, I explore the psychology of patience. Patience has primarily been studied as a choice. When people are patient, they are willing to wait to receive a better outcome later instead of a worse outcome sooner. The decision to wait predicts better outcomes in a variety of domains, from health to financial decision-making. However, there are many situations where people are not given a choice about whether to wait. In these situations, patience is an experience. Patient people are able to wait without suffering. My dissertation explores patience as both a decision and an experience. In doing so, I am able to identify new factors that influence patience, such as liking for the reward (Chapter 1) and the desire for goal closure (Chapter 2), as well as understand the relationship between the two definitions of patience (Chapter 3). These findings not only provide insight into interventions to effectively improve patient decision-making, but also help to shed light on what it means to be patient.