Individuals and governments often fail to take action to address climate change owing largely to widespread politicization of the issue and related discourse. In response to recent appeals for non‐partisan approaches to pro‐environmentalism, we propose that highlighting one's responsibility to future generations (RFG) could offer promise across the political spectrum. We argue that RFG may be effective because it is widely endorsed, uncorrelated with demographic indicators and less tied to political ideology compared to other forms of responsibility, such as personal responsibility for climate change mitigation. Across six main and seven supplementary studies (N = 161,633), we provide evidence for these claims. RFG is not only widely endorsed across countries and demographic groups but it also significantly predicts various measures of pro‐environmental behaviour, both in correlational and pre‐registered experimental contexts. These findings confirm established effects, reconcile inconsistencies and suggest prioritizing intergenerational responsibility may effectively reshape climate change narratives for the most resistant parties.

中文翻译：

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对子孙后代的责任：跨越政治分歧应对气候变化的战略


个人和政府往往未能采取行动应对气候变化，这主要是由于该问题和相关话语的广泛政治化。为了回应最近对无党派方式支持环保主义的呼吁，我们建议强调一个人对子孙后代的责任 （RFG） 可以为整个政治派别带来希望。我们认为 RFG 可能是有效的，因为它得到广泛认可，与人口指标无关，并且与其他形式的责任（例如个人缓解气候变化的责任）相比，它与政治意识形态的联系较少。在 6 项主要研究和 7 项补充研究 （N = 161,633） 中，我们为这些说法提供了证据。RFG 不仅在国家和人口群体中得到广泛认可，而且还显着预测了亲环境行为的各种衡量标准，包括相关和预先注册的实验背景。这些发现证实了既定的影响，调和了不一致之处，并表明优先考虑代际责任可能会有效地重塑最抵制各方的气候变化叙事。