Envisaging Mitigation Action Can Induce Lower Discounting toward Future Environmental Gains and Promote Pro-Environmental Behavior

Ho, Liang-Chu; Sung, Yu-Hsien; Wu, Chia-Chun; Lee, Pei-Shan; Chiou, Wen-Bin

doi:10.3390/su12219289

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Envisaging Mitigation Action Can Induce Lower Discounting toward Future Environmental Gains and Promote Pro-Environmental Behavior

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Institute of Education, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan

Department of Psychology and Social Work, National Defense University, Taipei 112061, Taiwan

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Sustainability 2020, 12(21), 9289; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12219289

Received: 2 October 2020 / Revised: 1 November 2020 / Accepted: 6 November 2020 / Published: 9 November 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Placing Climate Action)

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Abstract

Low engagement with climate change may stem from the tendency to discount the distant benefits of mitigation action. Hence, a reduced tendency to discount the future should be associated with increased involvement in climate change mitigation. Prior research has demonstrated that episodic future thinking (EFT; i.e., envisioning future events that involve self-projection) can reduce discounting. In two laboratory studies, we showed that engaging in EFT about mitigation action was associated with a lower discounting tendency toward future environmental gains (Experiments 1 and 2) and a greater tendency to act pro-environmentally, as manifested by using air conditioning in an energy-saving manner (Experiment 1), choosing a meal with less environmental impact (Experiment 2), and willingness to participate in beach cleaning (Experiment 2). The present findings suggest that engagement in EFT about mitigation action may represent a promising strategy for improving personal involvement in climate change. View Full-Text

Keywords: climate change; discounting; episodic future thinking; mitigation; pro-environmental behavior

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Supplementary Material

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Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/cspk6srm9d.1
Description: Anonymized datasets of the two experiments can be retrieved from the Mendeley Data (http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/cspk6srm9d.1).

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MDPI and ACS Style

Ho, L.-C.; Sung, Y.-H.; Wu, C.-C.; Lee, P.-S.; Chiou, W.-B. Envisaging Mitigation Action Can Induce Lower Discounting toward Future Environmental Gains and Promote Pro-Environmental Behavior. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9289. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12219289

AMA Style

Ho L-C, Sung Y-H, Wu C-C, Lee P-S, Chiou W-B. Envisaging Mitigation Action Can Induce Lower Discounting toward Future Environmental Gains and Promote Pro-Environmental Behavior. Sustainability. 2020; 12(21):9289. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12219289

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ho, Liang-Chu, Yu-Hsien Sung, Chia-Chun Wu, Pei-Shan Lee, and Wen-Bin Chiou. 2020. "Envisaging Mitigation Action Can Induce Lower Discounting toward Future Environmental Gains and Promote Pro-Environmental Behavior" Sustainability 12, no. 21: 9289. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12219289

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Envisaging Mitigation Action Can Induce Lower Discounting toward Future Environmental Gains and Promote Pro-Environmental Behavior

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