Approaching the future to benefit the environment: Testing the connection with future generations in an experimental game among Argentinean university students

MARIA VICTORIA ORTIZ; CECILIA REYNA

Congreso; 19th International Conference on Social Dilemmas in Copenhagen; 2022

Title * Approaching the future to benefit the environment: Testing the connection with future generations in an experimental game among Argentinean university students Objective *Considering the social nature of climate change and the different levels of relationships that it implicates, even with people of the future, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the connection between the present and future generations in an experimental climate game (ECg) among Argentinean university students between 18 and 29 years old. Based on previous research, we tested different interventions to reduce in-group bias and promote sustainable decisions in the intergenerational dilemmas setting. Method *A between-subject online experiment at LIONESS Lab was carried out. 184 participants were exposed to one of four treatments: Tcontrol without induction (n = 48); T1, message with a chain picture (n = 45); T2, similarity task (n = 46); and T3, imagined contact task (n = 46). They played in groups or “generations” one round of the Game of Multi-Level Conflict in Climate Change Mitigation developed by Böhm, Gürerk and Lauer (2020) with some variations. Additionally, they completed some questionnaires (e.g., CFC scale), individually. The study was previously pre-registered in OSF (osf.io/q8sjr) and approved by an Ethics Committee.RESULTS The main dependent variable was the long-term contributions in the ECg. The one way ANOVA for unrelated samples was not statistically significant (F(3,180) = .040, p = .989). The findings suggest that the treatments did not work as expected, i.e., there was no increase in the long-term contributions for being exposed to T1, T2 or T3. Contrary to expectations, few participants (only the 25,5%) contribute the amount necessary (15 points) to the long term pool to avoid the negative consequences for the following generation. Conclusions *Although the results did not provide evidence in support of the hypothesis proposed, the relevance of this study relies on the contribution of the research on intergenerational dilemmas, mainly, in Latin American in which this topic is scarcely discussed and other issues prevail (e.g., poverty). Besides, the design variations that we proposed to the game of Böhm et al. (2020) could contribute to the methodological discussion in the field. We explain the results highlighting the treatments used that have been little studied in the context of climate change, proposing new lines of research.