The Motivation to Protect Future Generations as a Source of Meaning and Mental Well-Being

A thriving society depends on the well-being of its people––but might concern about bettering the world predict individual well-being? We test whether concern for long-term societal welfare associates positively with personal fulfillment by connecting people to something greater than themselves. Across seven studies (N=3,316), we find that concern for future generations correlates with greater meaning, life satisfaction, and flourishing, even after accounting for self-focused future-oriented constructs. These associations are primarily driven by impact-oriented legacy motivation––the desire to make a meaningful contribution––rather than reputational concerns about being remembered. Individuals displaying impartial intergenerational beneficence (IIB)––a sustained concern for all future generations––exhibit particularly strong engagement with impact-driven legacy concerns, which in turn predict well-being. As intergenerational concern was not associated with lower anxiety or depression, deep concern for the far future may reflect both an emotional burden and a source of fulfillment.