| No | SDES-2020-9 |
|---|---|
| Title | Can Individuals Caring Little about Future Generations Serve As Their Representatives? |
| Author | Yoshinori Nakagawa and Tatsuyoshi Saijo |
| Abstract | How the future generation’s voice can be institutionally reflected in current decision making has, for decades, attracted much attention from researchers and practitioners. To seek forms of institutionalization in which politicians elected through a conventional democratic process are allowed voluntarily to represent future generations’ voices (rather than arbitrarily attaching power to representatives), this study established a model for the psychological process in which individuals experience future generations’ perspective through deliberation, and this experience in turn motivates individuals to serve as future generations’ voluntary representatives. A questionnaire survey was conducted with participants in a deliberative experiment (the number of observations was equal to 187), and factor analysis and structural equation modeling were applied. As a result, two psychological constructs “Disengagement from the present” and “Supportive attitude toward future generations” were identified, and psychometrically sound scales for these constructs were developed. Additionally, the structural equation model for these constructs was found to have acceptable goodness of fit. The present study contributes to deepening the debate on how one can find adequate or suitable candidates to fulfill roles as future generations’ spokespersons and guardians. |
| Revised version published in | Futures |