Joe Kantenbacher, Deidra Miniard, Nathaniel Geiger, Landon Yoder, & Shahzeen Z. Attari
The state of the environment is the top cue young adults use to distinguish good and bad futures
Contact at: joseph.kantenbacher@usd.edu
There are a variety of current challenges that will shape our future, such as climate change impacts, socio-economic disparities, the role of technology in society, and changing population dynamics. As ideas about the future influence actions taken today, it is important to study what possible futures young adults anticipate and how they believe those futures could be realized. In 2019, using an in-person paper survey, we asked students (N = 193; ages 18-26) to describe their best, most-likely, and worst possible futures for the United States in either the year 2050 or 2100. Participants were also asked questions to explore what would need to happen to achieve these futures and the actors who have influence in shaping the future. We found that environmental sustainability features prominently in articulations of the future, with most participants referenced the environment in at least one of their three futures. However, climate change was not the environmental issue receiving the greatest share of attention. Rather, issues related to waste production and disposal (including recycling) were more commonly cited. The environment was cited as one of the top sources of despair about the future and climate change concern rated as one of the best predictors of perceived future quality of life. The images of and ideas about the future collected by this work can help to engage productively with young adults in addressing today’s pressing challenges, including those related to environmental sustainability.
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