Enhancing environmental resource sustainability by imagining oneself in the future

Engaging in sustainable behaviors is a straightforward means of mitigating climate change impacts. This experiment assessed whether environmentally sustainable behavior can be increased by imagining oneself in the future. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions in which they were directed to imagine, draw, and describe: 1) a known person in their present life (control current-other), 2) themselves in their present life (control current-self), or 3) themselves at 60 years old (experimental future-self). Prior to the experimental manipulation, the three groups did not differ on environmental attitudes or future orientation as measured by the Ecocentric and Anthropocentric Attitudes and the Future Self-Continuity Scales. On a fishing simulation (FISH 4.0) those who imagined others or themselves in the present depleted the pool of fish most quickly, and those who imagined themselves in the future behaved more sustainably by limiting the number of fish caught in any fishing 'season' and leaving behind more fish for respawning for future seasons. Our findings suggest imagining oneself in the present stimulates faster depletion of resources in a simulated scenario while imagining oneself at a future age can promote environmentally protective behavior.