Intragenerational conflict undermines cooperation with the future

Intragenerational conflict undermines cooperation with the future | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Intragenerational conflict undermines cooperation with the future Gabriel Bayle, Violette Pinçon, Gladys Barragan-Jason, Cécile Bazart, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8121236/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Future generations have no agency in today’s decisions, making their well-being a defining challenge of our time. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion all depend on trade-offs between immediate gains and long-term sustainability. These dilemmas are often attributed to shortsightedness. We show instead that the critical obstacle lies within generations themselves: coordination failures among contemporaries can undermine sustainability even when individuals care about the future. Using a lab-in-the-field intergenerational goods game with a threshold-based regeneration rule, we compare settings with a single decision maker per generation to ones with three contemporaries deciding simultaneously without communication. When individuals act alone, resources are almost always preserved; when contemporaries must coordinate, conservation collapses. Our models explain this pattern by combining intergenerational altruism with beliefs about others’ restraint: pessimistic expectations erode altruistic motives, driving overextraction. These insights have direct implications for climate governance and natural resource management, where failures in coordination today can be as detrimental as lack of concern for the future. Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Economics Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Psychology and behaviour Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Climate-change policy Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Decision making Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8121236","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":557590634,"identity":"8a57ad2e-22dd-4f80-88c2-fd6905e7573b","order_by":0,"name":"Gabriel 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