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Empowering the younger generation increases their willingness for intergenerational reconciliation in the context of climate change.
- Source :
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Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2024 Aug 01; Vol. 14 (1), pp. 17825. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Aug 01. - Publication Year :
- 2024
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Abstract
- Climate change can evoke intergenerational conflict. Structural inequalities and their unequal impact on generations can increase perceptions of collective victimhood among the younger generation (<ā30 years) and bear the risk of social tensions between the young and the elderly. An experimental study (Nā=ā434) showed that younger people perceived an increased risk of future victimhood. In line with a needs-based approach, the young reported an increased desire to pursue agentic intergroup goals, indicating a heightened need for agency. However, when the young received empowering messages that affirmed their ingroup agency, their willingness to reconcile with the old generation increased, whereas informing them about non-agentic ingroup behavior did not affect reconciliation (between-subjects manipulation). While empowering messages from the outgroup ("Grannies for Future") that directly affirmed the young generations' agency for climate change mitigation as well as empowering messages from the ingroup that indirectly affirmed ingroup agency in domains unrelated to climate change both addressed the need for agency, only outgroup empowerment promoted intergenerational reconciliation. However, empowerment did not affect support for collective climate action. We discuss empowerment as an avenue for resolving intergroup conflict in the context of climate change and possible consequences for climate action and social change.<br /> (© 2024. The Author(s).)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2045-2322
- Volume :
- 14
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Scientific reports
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 39090158
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-68145-9