Characteristics That Influence Individuals’ Intentions to Use and Bequeath Common Assets: Time-Perspective Scales and Demographic Attributes

Abstract

As global environmental problems worsen, there is a concern for future generations who may face an unfairly degraded environment. In this study, we asked individuals from the current generation questions about using and bequeathing a common local asset to future generations in order to identify individual characteristics that influence their intentions to benefit future generations. A total of 960 Japanese individuals ranging from 20 to over 70 years old participated in an online survey. Explanatories include five time-perspective scales based on the psychology literature and demographic attributes such as age, sex, household income, marital status, final education level, and population size. Using logistic regression, we found that altruism was the most significant and positive factor influencing their intentions to benefit future generations. Three other time-perspective scales, namely future neglect, creativity, and generativity, also influenced the intentions, albeit negatively and to a lesser extent. Demographic attributes were generally not found to significantly influence intentions. Finally, we argue that three psychological conditions—time horizon, negative aspects of creativity, and sufficient altruism—could potentially lead people to choose decisions that are more beneficial to future generations.