Imagining the Future Aged Self Reduces Ageism: The Role of Self–Other Overlap and the Moderating Effect of Gain–Loss Framing
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Population aging poses growing social and economic challenges, yet effective psychological interventions targeting ageism remain limited. The present research examined whether future-aged-self perspective taking increases self–other overlap with older adults and promotes prosocial behavioral responses toward them, and whether these effects depend on decision-making context. In Study 1 (N = 160), participants completed a perspective-taking task followed by a Dictator Game. Individuals who imagined their future aged self reported greater self–other overlap with older adults and allocated more resources to older, compared with younger, targets. Study 2 (N = 143) extended this investigation using a Welfare Trade-Off Task that manipulated gain versus loss framing. Participants in the future-aged-self condition again reported higher self–other overlap and stronger intentions to communicate with older adults. They also showed higher welfare trade-off ratios favoring older adults under gain-framed conditions, whereas no significant group difference emerged under loss framing. These findings suggest that future-aged-self perspective taking can enhance young adults’ prosocial responses toward older adults, but that its effectiveness is contingent on situational framing. Temporal-self interventions may be most effective when prosocial action is framed as allocating potential gains rather than accepting explicit personal losses.
Source: Behavioral Sciences
DOI: 10.3390/bs16050783
Authors: Dexian He, Quan He, Hongyan Zhu, Xianyou He
Language: English
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,654
OpenAlex ID: W7162117537