Intergenerational Intergroup Cooperation: “Future†ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation in the minimal and natural group contexts

Hirotaka Imada, Yukako Inoue, Alice Yamamoto-Wilson, Tatsuyoshi Saijo and Nobuhiro Mifune
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Hirotaka Imada: Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London
Yukako Inoue: Department of Social Psychology, Yasuda Women’s University
Alice Yamamoto-Wilson: Independent Researcher, Tokyo, Japan
Tatsuyoshi Saijo: Kyoto University of Advanced Science
Nobuhiro Mifune: Research Institute for Future Design, Kochi University of Technology

No SDES-2025-1, Working Papers from Kochi University of Technology, School of Economics and Management

Abstract: Issues related to sustainability (e.g., climate change and over-fishing) manifest themselves as intergenerational social dilemmas, and people are constantly faced with a choice between self-serving unsustainable behavior and sustainable, personally costly behavior. Extending the previous literature on intergroup (non-international) cooperation, we tested whether group membership of the future generations influences sustainable decision making. Two preregistered studies focusing on the minimal group (N = 1393) and the natural group (Japan vs. China, N = 1781), we revealed future ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation; individuals are more and less likely to make a sustainable decision when they believe that their current behavior benefits future ingroup and outgroup members, respectively. Future ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation were primarily driven by the increased felt responsibility for future generations and the reduced sense of reputational concern.

Keywords: intergenerational decision-making; intergenerational cooperation; future generation; sustainability; ingroup favoritism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-env and nep-exp
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Published in SDE Series, December 2025, pages 1-30

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