Doctoral Dissertation Research: Thinking ahead to do better now: Legacy-focused cognition and its link to environmental sustainability

博士论文研究：提前思考现在做得更好：以遗产为中心的认知及其与环境可持续性的联系

• 批准号: 2343645
• 负责人: Janet Swim
• 金额: $ 3.89万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-03-01 至 2025-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2343645&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Thinking; ahead

The omnipresent issue of climate variability has brought the importance of intergenerational stewardship to light, and environmental sustainability has become one of the most public and pressing intergenerational challenges of the 21st century. Still, it remains difficult for people to truly grasp how actions in the present can create negative consequences for those in the distant future. Thus, motivating people to be less selfish in the present and more generous toward the future is a fundamental step in safeguarding the well-being of future generations. Exploring motivations for this kind of intergenerational selflessness via the present project has multi-faceted scientific significance, from contributing to the scientific understanding of legacy-focused thinking and its link to environmental sustainability to demonstrating the advantages of using cutting edge computational methods in social science research. Furthermore, this project informs how a deeply rooted psychological motivation—the motivation to establish a posthumous legacy—can be leveraged to promote environmental health and ensure a healthy and sustainable world that generations can enjoy for many years to come. Although prior studies have demonstrated that reflecting on one’s posthumous legacy promotes concerns and behaviors related to environmental sustainability, the details of these reflections and effects remain unclear and underexplored. Across two online survey studies, the research team uses a mix of cutting-edge computational and traditional statistical techniques to illuminate what people are thinking when they report their desired posthumous legacy (Research Question 1), how these themes may differ between demographic groups (Research Question 2), and which themes are positively associated with environmental sustainability concerns and behaviors (Research Question 3). Showing how advancements in computational techniques can aid social scientific research via efficiency and scalability may inspire future researchers to adopt similar approaches. Additionally, insights gained through the project aid future researchers and public health organizations when developing/testing messages that can effectively motivate sustainability concerns and behaviors.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

无所不在的气候变化问题凸显了代际管理的重要性，环境可持续性已成为 21 世纪最公开、最紧迫的代际挑战之一，但人们仍然很难真正掌握当前的行动。可能会给遥远的未来带来负面影响，因此，激励人们在当下少一些自私，对未来更加慷慨，是探索这种代际行为的动机的一个基本步骤。通过本项目实现的无私具有多方面的科学意义，从促进对以遗产为中心的思维及其与环境可持续性的联系的科学理解，到展示在社会科学研究中使用尖端计算方法的优势。此外，该项目还介绍了如何使用尖端计算方法。根深蒂固的心理动机——建立死后遗产的动机——可以用来促进环境健康，并确保子孙后代可以享受一个健康和可持续的世界，尽管之前的研究表明，反思一个人的死后遗产可以促进环境健康。与环境相关的担忧和行为在两项在线调查研究中，研究小组结合使用尖端计算和传统统计技术来阐明人们在报告他们想要的死后遗产时的想法（研究）。问题 1），这些主题在人口群体之间有何不同（研究问题 2），以及哪些主题与环境可持续性问题和行为呈正相关（研究问题 3），展示计算技术的进步如何通过效率和效率来帮助社会科学研究。可扩展性可能此外，通过该项目获得的见解有助于未来的研究人员和公共卫生组织开发/测试能够有效激发可持续性关注和行为的信息。该奖项是 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为值得通过评估获得支持。利用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准。