Empowering the younger generation increases their willingness for intergenerational reconciliation in the context of climate change.

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 (< 30 years) and bear the risk of social tensions between the young and the elderly. An experimental study (N = 434) 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-subje

SUBMITTER: Stollberg J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11294615 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature