The intergenerational social dilemma is a social dilemma that sets up a decisionmaking process for resource allocation among generations. In principle, there is no future generation; thus, only the current generation can make decisions. Because the current generation is myopic and optimistic, they don’t take future generations into consideration. To address this dilemma, many experiments have been conducted based on the concept of future design to change thoughts and behaviors. In this context, a method is presented for assigning a person to play the role of the imaginary future generation in the decision-making process of the current generation, and having them participate in the discussion. The impact of this method is significant and effective. However, this imaginary future generation is set up as self-evident, and a clear reason for its existence is not given. After reviewing previous studies, this paper proposes an experimental design that emphasizes one’s internal free-will decision to accept this imaginary future generation.
Tsuji et al. (Tue,) studied this question.