Empathy-driven group intergenerational decision-making

<p indent="0mm">Group intergenerational decision-making refers to the process by which groups make decisions that consider the interests of both present and future generations. This type of decision-making is relevant to issues such as climate change governance, investment in infrastructure and education, and the management of nuclear wastewater discharge. Despite its importance, most research has focused on individual intergenerational decision-making, leaving a gap in our understanding of intergenerational decision-making in group contexts. Existing studies on group intergenerational decision-making face two key limitations: low ecological validity due to a lack of real-world intergenerational contexts and the absence of interaction among group members, leading participants to make decisions independently. To address these gaps, the present study conducted two behavioral experiments and developed an agent-based model to explore the characteristics of group intergenerational decision-making and the potential influence of empathy. A novel group intergenerational decision-making task was designed, reflecting real-world scenarios where participants could either contribute resources to future generations and group members or exploit these resources. Additionally, the task provided feedback on decision-making outcomes and information about the decisions of group members. Experiment 1 involved 118 participants and aimed to investigate the effect of intergenerational intervals on group intergenerational decision-making and the potential conformity effect during a multi-round decision-making process with feedback. Results indicated a discounting effect in intergenerational decision-making preferences, which referred to decisions in the first round. Furthermore, Participants’ decisions in the last 14 rounds tended to align with the average decisions of their group members from the previous round, demonstrating both prosocial and self-interested conformity. This conformity effect suggests that individuals adjust their intergenerational decisions based on the observed behaviors of their peers, which can either enhance or diminish the altruistic intentions behind their choices. In Experiment 2, the study introduced the concept of intergenerational empathy and recruited 385 participants to examine its role in group intergenerational decision-making. Findings revealed that intergenerational empathy positively predicted intergenerational decision-making. Moreover, intergenerational empathy moderated the conformity effect; higher levels of intergenerational empathy weakened the self-interested conformity effect, though it did not significantly impact prosocial conformity. This indicates that while empathetic individuals are less likely to conform to the self-serving behaviors of others, their propensity to engage in prosocial behaviors remains unchanged. Building on the results of Experiments 1 and 2, the study employed agent-based modeling to explore the impact of intergenerational empathy-driven decision-making on sustainable development at a macro level. Simulation results suggested that increased intergenerational empathy could enhance human life expectancy, improve longevity, and increase overall wealth. These findings underscore the potential long-term benefits of fostering empathy within intergenerational decision-making contexts. In summary, this study reveals the discounting and conformity effects in group intergenerational decision-making and suggests that fostering intergenerational empathy can promote altruism and reduce self-interested conformity. By broadening the application of empathy-altruism theory, this research provides new insights into promoting sustainability through individual and collective behaviors.