Logue and Anderson XXXXXXXXXXwere interested in determining whether experienced administrators were more likely than individuals training to be administrators to consider the long-term consequences of...

Logue and Anderson (2001) were interested in determining whether experienced administrators were more likely than individuals training to be administrators to consider the long-term consequences of their actions. The experienced group of administrators consisted of 44 provosts (chief academic officers) of colleges and universities, and the trainees consisted of 14 individuals enrolled in the American Council on Education Fellows Program (a program that trains individuals to be college and university administrators). One of the measures of long-term consequences was that all participants made a series of 59 hypothetical choices between two monetary alternatives. These alternatives always took the form of “The administrator to whom you report will give your unit $X right now or The administrator to whom you report will give you $20,000 in Y time.” The $X amounts varied from $20 to $20,000 in increments of $666, and the Y time periods were 1 week, 10 weeks, 5 months, 10 months, 1.5 years, 3 years, 6 years, and 12 years. The participants had to select one of the two alternatives. Interestingly, when given the choice between choosing a smaller but immediate amount of money versus a larger amount to be received at some time in the future, the experienced administrators were more likely to choose the immediate funding, whereas the trainees were more likely to select the larger future funding.