Iranian Educational Psychology Association Iranian Journal of Learning and Memory 2645-5447 Articles in Press 2026 08 31 Examining the Relationship Between Objective and Subjective Dimensions of Socioeconomic Status and the Temporal Discounting of Reward and Effort 252012 10.22034/iepa.2026.599961.1625 EN Fariborz Dortaj Professor of Allameh Tabataba&amp;#039;i University 0000-0002-7099-9249 Razie Vazifedoostkhalaj Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabataba&#039;i University, Tehran, Iran 0000-0002-5164-8996 Esmaeil Sadipour Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabataba&#039;i University, Tehran, Iran 0000-0001-5984-1320 Abdol-Hossein Vahabie School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran 0000-0003-1603-8866 Journal Article 2026 08 30 Objective: Temporal discounting may vary with socioeconomic resources and macroeconomic conditions. This study examined associations between objective and subjective socioeconomic status (SES) and the temporal discounting of rewards and effort costs among Iranian university students.<br /> Method: Using a descriptive–correlational design, 61 students (53 women, 8 men) from public universities in Tehran were recruited through convenience sampling during the 2024–2025 academic year. Research instruments included a Rating Task to assess the subjective value of rewards and subjective cost of efforts, and an Intertemporal Choice Task to measure reward and effort discounting via hypothetical “smaller–sooner” versus “larger–later” choices. Subjective and objective SES were assessed using the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status (Adler et al., 2000) and the Ghodratnama Socioeconomic Status Questionnaire (Ghodratnama et al., 2013), respectively. Individual reward- and effort-cost discounting parameters (k) were estimated using a hyperbolic model. Analyses were conducted in R 4.5.0.<br /> Results: Objective SES showed a significant positive correlation with reward discounting (r = 0.271, p = 0.047( but not with effort-cost discounting (r = −0.096, p = 0.460). Subjective SES was not significantly associated with reward discounting (r = -0.021, p = 0.878) or effort discounting (r = -0.015, p = 0.909). Effort discounting was not related to either SES dimensions.<br /> Conclusions: The positive association between objective SES and reward discounting diverges from the pattern commonly reported in stable economies, suggesting that macroeconomic context—particularly chronic high inflation—may moderate SES-discounting relationships. The absence of SES-effort associations reinforces the conceptual distinction between delay and effort costs.