Discounting environmental policy: The effects of psychological distance over time and space

Many environmental policies are characterized by long time horizons (e.g., multiple generations) and high geographic dispersion (e.g., multiple countries). In this study, we use theories of psychological distance and the method of conjoint experimentation to disentangle the extent to which different dimensions of the perceived distance associated with a policy's impacts may undermine support for environmental policy and help explain the lack of urgency typically associated with such policies. We find that temporal distance in decades has a roughly linear effect on support over 50 years, where the further into the future benefits are expected, the lower support is. By contrast we find that spatial distance appears to have a shift where support is stronger when benefits fall within one's country as compared to beyond, but are not better for one's local region as compared to one's country. Comparing the magnitude of effects of spatial and temporal distance, we find that, compared to benefits in the here and now, benefits that arrive 30–40 years into the future are discounted about as much as policies that only benefit people outside of one's country now. Controlling for the effects of temporal and spatial distance, we still find that policies that aim to help the environment receive less support. However, this is not true of policies that address more concrete environmental problems (e.g. natural disasters). Given a richer understanding of the relationship between psychological distance and environmental policy support, we discuss ways one may address this elusive problem.