Consideration Of Immediate Consequences Research Articles

Volunteering intentions during social crises: The role of considering the welfare of others and consequences of own behavior

In the current paper, we investigate how people with experience with volunteering in their lifetime intend to engage in hypothetical crisis volunteering in the future. We took into account two types of hypothetical social crises: a pandemic and a refugee crisis. We suggest that individual differences in considering the welfare of others (social value orientation) and consideration of future/immediate consequences play a role in the volunteer responses to crises. We also control for the willingness to volunteer in the proximal (a month) and distal (3 years) future, gender, age, and length of volunteer experience. We conducted two survey-based online studies in October 2023. We recruited N = 287 people for Study 1 (Poland) and N = 231 for Study 2 (Italy). Our results suggested that people who declare they want to remain volunteers intend to engage during social crises, but not necessarily in a proactive way. Furthermore, consideration of future consequences can result in proactivity, which was especially visible in the Italian sample. Consideration of immediate consequences can have twofold correlates – one might be the engagement in volunteering in case of a sudden emergency or refraining from the voluntary activity. These results can be used by people leading volunteer activities to predict what to expect from their volunteers and plan the volunteer recruitment and retention processes during crises.

Psychological variables related to decision making for mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mask wearing can prevent and/or mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Psychological variables related to decision making can potentially influence mask wearing. We surveyed college students (N = 1,085) about wearing a mask inside a store and outside on a busy street. Predictor variables were demographics, COVID-19 variables, and psychological variables of health risk taking, recreational risk taking, consideration of immediate consequences, and consideration of future consequences. Health risk taking was negatively associated with mask wearing outside on a busy street but was not associated with mask wearing inside a store. Recreational risk taking was not associated with mask wearing either inside a store or outside on a busy street. Consideration of future consequences was significantly positively associated with mask wearing both inside a store and outside on a busy street. Consideration of immediate consequences was not associated with mask wearing either inside a store or outside on a busy street. Marketing about store safety requirements of mask wearing may turn certain customers away from shopping inside the store. Their personality may not be of future consequences orientation and no matter how much one attempts to educate or reason with them, these customers will be opposed to mask wearing. Managers then need to decide whether to potentially lose a customer by requiring the customer to wear a mask to shop inside the store.

Not all boomers: temporal orientation explains inter- and intra-cultural variability in the link between age and climate engagement

Some previous work suggests that older adults, relative to younger adults and teenagers, are less engaged with climate change; yet, this pattern is not consistently found across all countries or populations. Here, we consider whether temporal orientation might act as a boundary condition for age effects on climate change engagement. We assess whether cultural (study 1) and inter-individual (study 2) differences in temporal orientation moderate the tendency for older adults to be less engaged with climate change than younger adults. Study 1 (N = 44,387) reveals that among European countries, countries with a greater long-term orientation tend to show a weaker (i.e., less negative) relationship between age and the salience of climate change (i.e., cognitive engagement with the topic). Study 2 (N = 798) demonstrates that in the USA, the negative relationship between age and climate action intentions becomes smaller in magnitude (i.e., less negative) among those higher in consideration of future consequences, but increases in those higher in consideration of immediate consequences. These findings support the notion that it is a confluence of age and present orientation (and low future orientation) that that drives age-related declines in climate engagement.

General vs health-specific consideration of immediate and future consequences to explain eating and exercise behavior in a Norwegian student population: A randomized survey experiment.

Over several decades, the consideration of future consequences (CFC) construct has been used to explain and predict health behaviors. However, the reported associations between CFC and health behaviors are relatively weak, leading to the low explanatory power of the models. Recent research suggests that CFC can be a domain-specific construct. In this study, we explored the psychometric properties of the Norwegian CFC-general and CFC-health questionnaires in terms of factor structure and discriminant and convergent validity and tested the association between the general and domain-specific CFC and exercise and eating behaviors. In a randomized survey experiment, 1,001 university students were assigned to either a CFC-general or a CFC-health questionnaire. In the tested models, two dimensions of CFC, consideration of immediate consequences (CFC-I) and consideration of future consequences (CFC-F), were independent variables. The exercise and eating behaviors, measured both as self-evaluated behaviors and self-reported frequency measures, were dependent variables. The results showed that in both CFC-general and CFC-health, CFC-I and CFC-F are distinct dimensions that differentially explain variance in health behaviors. A domain-specific CFC-health explained a significantly higher amount of variance in self-reported eating and exercising behaviors than a general CFC. Self-evaluated health behaviors were better explained by CFC than self-reported behavioral frequencies. Practical implications of the findings and avenues for future research are discussed.

Citizens’ sustainable, future-oriented energy behaviours in energy transition

Abstract This study explored individuals' engagement in the sustainable energy transition in Finland. Using the attitude-behaviour-context model (Guagnano et al., 1995) and Stern's (2000) typology of environmentally significant behaviours, this study tested the assumption that individuals' engagement in transition is a combination of socio-psychological and contextual (socio-economic) variables and that the active engagement requires individuals to have a future orientation, systemic and self-efficacy, subjective knowledge and a pro-environmental attitude. The survey (N = 1012), representative of the 17−75-year-old Finnish population, was analysed with exploratory factor analysis and linear regression. The socio-psychological variables explained a larger portion of variance than the socio-economic variables in all three types of sustainable energy behaviours. The consideration of future consequences, self-efficacy and knowledge were positively associated with all three types of sustainable energy behaviours. Systemic efficacy was positively associated with and the consideration of immediate consequences was negatively associated with private-sphere environmentalism. The results suggest that individuals' consideration of the immediate and distant future should be included in the socio-psychological models of sustainable behaviours. The results also suggest that policymakers need to focus on strengthening citizens' efficacy beliefs, future orientation and knowledge.

Individual differences in time perspective, age, and smoking behavior: A test of two present versus future conceptualizations

ABSTRACTWe evaluated the discriminant validity of the present and future time perspective constructs used in the Consideration of Future Consequences scale (CFCS) and Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) and their concurrent validity in relation to smoking behavior. We also assessed the moderating effect of age on the association between time perspective and smoking behavior. We found that although they are closely related, the present and future time constructs used in the two scales are distinct from one another. In both models, the present time perspective, but not the future time perspective, was significantly linked to smoking. Moreover, we found that Zimbardo present fatalistic perspective (ZPF) was more strongly associated with smoking than consideration of immediate consequences (CFC-I). Both models had higher predictive power in the younger group than the older group. The practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Consideration of Immediate and Future Consequences in Accepting and Responding to Anthropogenic Climate Change

Decreasing greenhouse gas emissions (climate change mitigation) is one of the most important types of pro-environmental behavior. Greenhouse gases have been repeatedly cited as a leading cause of climate change (CC). However, before engaging in CC mitigation behaviors, individuals must accept the reality of CC. Few studies addressing the influence of individual time perspective on climate change mitigation have been found. No study investigating the relationship between time perspectives and acceptance of the reality of CC exists. This study was aimed at filling that research gap. The study examines the impact of consideration of immediate and distant consequences of behavior on individual acceptance of the reality of CC and commitment to engage in CC mitigation behaviors. Two-hundred-and-forty-five undergraduate students responded to an instrument investigating those variables. A structural-equation model revealed that consideration of distant consequences affects acceptance of CC, but considering immediate consequences do not influence that acceptance. Accepting that CC is real affects the commitment to act pro-environmentally, which in turn influences CC mitigation commitment. Consideration of distant consequences also positively affects willingness to engage in CC mitigation; yet, consideration of immediate consequences produced no effect on that commitment.

A short-term longitudinal examination of the associations between self-control, delay of gratification and temporal considerations

Greater ability to control ourselves, delay gratification and consider immediate and future consequences of our behaviors have been linked theoretically and empirically, yet evidence of their longitudinal relations is lacking. A sample of 345 undergraduate students completed a self-report survey twice within a five-month interval. Results from autoregressive cross-lagged analysis showed a bidirectional relation between self-control and delay of gratification, with self-control predicting change in delay of gratification and vice-versa, and these constructs differentially predicted change in temporal considerations. Self-control predicted change in consideration of immediate consequences, while delay of gratification predicted change in consideration of future consequences. These constructs are central to decision-making and successful human development, and the present study shows them to be temporally linked. Further longitudinal research is needed to examine the nature of their associations across long-term time frames.

An Italian translation and validation of the Consideration of Future Consequences-14 Scale

Research on intertemporal decision-making has often used Strathman, Gleicher, Boninger, and Edwards's (1994) 12-item consideration of future consequences scale, or the CFC-14 scale (Joireman, Shaffer, Balliet, & Strathman, 2012). The present studies examined the measurement properties of an Italian CFC-14 scale, and the utility of distinguishing between its two subscales (consideration of future and consideration of immediate consequences). In Study 1 (N=832 adolescents, 964 adults), exploratory factor analyses suggested two factors and confirmatory factor analyses indicated the two-correlated factors and bi-factor models fit the data well. Study 2 (N=152 undergraduates) assessed the relationship between the two scales with Zimbardo and Boyd's time perspective inventory and revealed a high 8-week test-retest reliability (>0.74). Study 3 (N=432 adolescents) revealed CFC-Immediate scores did not differ as a function of age, whereas CFC-Future scores were higher among adolescents 16 and older. Study 4 (N=235 adolescents, 235 adults) revealed that adolescents and adults did not differ on CFC-Immediate, but adults scored significantly higher than adolescents on CFC-Future. Results support the validity of the Italian CFC-14, and provide insight into the developmental trajectory of time orientation, wherein adolescents and adults differ in concern with future (but not immediate) orientation.

Intentions to make sustainable tourism choices: do value orientations, time perspective, and efficacy beliefs explain individual differences?

ABSTRACTThere is a growing literature addressing psychological variables that can be associated with choices of environmentally sustainable tourism alternatives. This paper contributes to this literature by focusing on individual differences in value orientations (i.e. egoistic values, altruistic values, and biospheric values), time perspective (i.e. consideration of immediate consequences and consideration of future consequences), and efficacy beliefs (i.e. self-efficacy and collective efficacy). A cross-sectional survey (N = 385) was carried out to investigate the role of each of these psychological variables in explaining intentions to choose environmentally sustainable travel options. Overall results showed that value orientations, time perspective, and efficacy beliefs together contributed to explaining about 53% of the variance in behavioural intentions. Consideration of future consequences and collective efficacy showed the strongest associations with behavioural intentions. Implications of these findings for research and managerial practice are noted.

Relating values and consideration of future and immediate consequences to consumer preference for biofuels: A three-dimensional social dilemma analysis

The present study sets preference for biofuels (corn- and cellulose-based ethanol) vs. gasoline within a three-dimensional social dilemma framework recognizing a social conflict (individual vs. collective interests), a temporal conflict (immediate vs. future interests) and a biospheric conflict (human vs. biospheric interests). Using this framework, values (egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric) and time orientation (concern with immediate, and concern with future consequences) are hypothesized to relate to preference for biofuels. To test these hypotheses, a panel of U.S. consumers completed a brief inventory of values, the consideration of future consequences-14 scale, and made a series of choices in fueling scenarios. Results revealed that values and CFC overlap, and that preference for biofuels was inversely related to egoistic values and consideration of immediate consequences and positively related to biospheric values and consideration of future consequences, supporting the three-dimensional social dilemma framework.

Consideration of immediate and future consequences, smoking status, and body mass index.

Health-related behaviors often involve immediate costs to achieve long-term benefits. How one considers the future outcomes of present day behaviors (e.g., temporal orientation) may play a role in engagement in healthy behaviors. The Consideration of Future Consequences Scale (CFCS) measures temporal orientation on a unidimensional continuum. Recently, 2 subscales of the CFCS have been reported: immediate (CFC-I) and future (CFC-F) consequences. These support a multidimensional conceptualization of temporal orientation. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed on CFCS data. The associations between 2 health-related variables [smoking and body mass index (BMI)] and each subscale were then explored, controlling for sociodemographic variables. A random sample of 2,000 individuals aged 18 years or over was selected from the edited electoral role for one English city and sent a postal questionnaire, including the CFCS and questions on age, gender, socioeconomic position, and self-reported current smoking status and BMI. Complete data was provided by 800 participants (response rate = 40.0%). The 2-factor model fitted CFCS data better than the 1-factor model. In multiple linear regression, CFC-I was positively associated with BMI, B (95% confidence interval [CI]) = 0.47 (0.06 to 0.88), p = .025; and odds of being a current smoker, odds ratio (95% CI) = 1.28 (1.02 to 1.60), p = .035; CFC-F was not associated with health-related variables. These data support the multidimensional conceptualization of temporal orientation. Consideration of immediate consequences may be a more important determinant of health-related behaviors than consideration of future consequences.