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When does deprivation motivate future-oriented thinking? The case of climate change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2017

Adam R. Pearson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Pomona College, Claremont, California 91711. adam.pearson@pomona.eduhttp://research.pomona.edu/sci/
Sander van der Linden
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom. sander.vanderlinden@psychol.cam.ac.ukhttps://www.psychol.cam.ac.uk/people/sander-van-der-linden/

Abstract

Pepper & Nettle overstate cross-domain evidence of present-oriented thinking among lower-socioeconomic-status (SES) groups and overlook key social and contextual drivers of temporal decision making. We consider psychological research on climate change – a quintessential intertemporal problem that implicates inequities and extrinsic mortality risk – documenting more future-oriented thinking among low- compared to high-SES groups.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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