Kyle Law | Psychology

Prosocial behavior across the intergenerational divide.

Another line of inquiry we lead addresses present-bias, the tendency to prioritize immediate challenges over long-term societal welfare. Intergenerational distance limits concern for future generations much like social distance narrows concern for outgroups and marginalized peoples. Present bias is especially troubling given the rising urgency of long-term global threats, such as climate change, future pandemics, and the ethical challenges posed by advancing AI. To tackle these long-horizon challenges, our group developed the Impartial Intergenerational Beneficence Inventory (IIBI), which measures exceptional and temporally-invariant concern for humanity's future.

Our research employing the IIBI reveals that individuals with greater intergenerational concern are more likely to exhibit, for instance, heightened general prosocial traits, environmental commitment, and support for policies benefiting future generations and present-day individuals alike. Moreover, this research shows that intergenerational concern can be cultivated through interventions harnessing moral education on intergenerational challenges, perspective-taking exercises, and imaginative thought experiments. Moving forward, we aim to enhance these interventions by integrating technologies like virtual reality and large language models to inspire meaningful engagement with humanity's long-term future.

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

*Denotes Joint First-Authorship and Equal Contribution.

Capozzoli, C.J., Law, K. F., & Syropoulos, S. (2025). Future generations hold the lowest moral standing, even below present-day marginalized human and non-human outgroups. In Press at Group Processes and Intergroup Relations.

Law, K. F., Gittle, E., Young, L., & Syropoulos, S. (2025). Mapping and Increasing Americans’ Actual and Perceived Support for Initiatives Protecting Future Generations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 0(0). https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/G7HH5YN3BW2UAXQ7I3FG/full

Link(s) to Press Coverage: Character & Context

Law, K. F.*, Syropoulos, S.*, Young, L., & O’Connor, B. B. (2025). Mapping prescriptive beliefs on seventh generation stewardship and increasing the temporal scope of intergenerational concern. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 37618. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-21466-9

Law, K. F., Wang, Z., Elbaek, C. T., Fage-Butler, A., Mitkidis, P., Gkinopoulos, T., Szumowska, E., Czarnek, G., Wojcik, A. D., Fulgsang, S., Jurgiel, D., Dzimińska, M., Warwas, I., Parzuchowski, M., Bialobrzeska, O., Paruzel-Czachura, M., Pypno-Blajda, K., Pantazi, M., Lits, G., … Syropoulos, S. (2025). Responsibility for Future Generations and Climate Change Mitigation: A Cross-National Study of Predictors of Pro-environmentalism in Europe. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 102729. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102729

Law, K. F., Young, L., & Syropoulos, S. (2025). Cultivating multigenerational moral expansion: Interventions cultivate moral concern for future generations in boundless and zero-sum contexts. British Journal of Social Psychology, 64(2), e12892. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12892

Link(s) to Press Coverage: The Conversation; Greater Good

Syropoulos, S.*, Law, K. F.*, Kraft-Todd, G., & Young, L. (2025). Impartial intergenerational beneficence: The psychology of feeling (equal) intergenerational concern for all future generations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 01461672241307800. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672241307800

Law, K. F., Colaizzi, G., & Syropoulos, S. (2025). Climate change is an intergenerational challenge that requires intergenerationally focused behavioral solutions. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 61, 101467. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2024.101467

Link(s) to Press Coverage: Illuminem

Law, K. F., Syropoulos, S., Coleman, M., Gainsburg, I., & O’Connor, B. B. (2024). Moral future-thinking: Does the moral circle stand the test of time? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 01461672241284324. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672241284324

ONGOING WORK

*Denotes Joint First-Authorship and Equal Contribution.

Bauer, G., Law, K. F., Young, L., Amormino, P., Marsh, A., O’Connor, B.B., & Syropoulos, S. (2025). Concern for future generations predicts present-day extraordinary altruistm: A case study of organ donorship. Under Revision.

Law, K. F.*, Syropoulos, S.*, Signorini, A., Young, L., & O'Connor, B.B. (2025). Why poverty in the present matters for intergenerational concern and the future of humanity. Under Revision.

Law, K. F., Young, L., & Syropoulos, S. (2025). Toward a psychology of intergenerational futures thinking: Longitudinal evidence linking intergenerational dispositions to collective action for future humanity. Under Review.

Antoniadis, A., Law, K. F., Rogers, B., Young, L., Goya-Tochetto, D., Amormino, P., & Syropoulos, S. (2025). Impartial intergenerational beneficence predicts interest in high-impact, long-term oriented careers. Under Review.

Law, K. F., Young, L., & Syropoulos, S. (2025). Who cares about the future? A large scale investigation into the sociodemographic predictors of self- and other-oriented future concern. Under Review.

Law, K. F., Young, L., & Syropoulos, S. (2025). Americans underestimate national levels of concern for future generations: Evidence across collective, governmental, and moral considerations. Under Review.

Law, K. F.* & Syropoulos, S.*, Young, L., & O'Connor, B. B. (2024). What we owe the present: The perceived morality of longtermism and helping distant future people. Under Review.