Abstract With the continuous growth of the global population and the increasing demand for natural resources, ecological resource scarcity has become a global issue that cannot be ignored. However, little is known about individuals' environment-related responses to ecological resource scarcity. Will people save resources for the future or consume them for immediate interests when resources become scarce? Drawing on the life history theory and construal level theory, we propose that individuals' environment-related responses to ecological resource scarcity depend on levels of future orientation. Analyses of multilevel data from 30 countries found that only in highly future-oriented countries could objective ecological resource scarcity positively predict individuals’ daily pro-environmental behaviors (Study 1). Two subsequent studies at the individual level again established the moderating effect of future orientation on the link between perceived ecological resource scarcity and pro-environmental behaviors (Studies 2 & 3), and the causal effect was also clarified (Study 3). Specifically, only for future-oriented people, perceived ecological resource scarcity or reminders of it could positively promote pro-environmental behaviors. We further verified the moderation hypothesis with water-saving posters to explore potential practical implications, i.e., whether the poster with water shortage information would have an effective promotional effect only when information about “concern for the future” is presented (Study 4). We concluded with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of the research findings.

中文翻译：

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关注未来拯救地球：生态资源稀缺何时促进环保行为？

摘要 随着全球人口的不断增长和对自然资源需求的不断增加，生态资源稀缺已成为一个不容忽视的全球性问题。然而，人们对生态资源稀缺的环境相关反应知之甚少。当资源变得稀缺时，人们会为未来节省资源还是为了眼前的利益消费它们？借鉴生活史理论和解释水平理论，我们提出个人对生态资源稀缺的环境相关反应取决于未来取向的水平。对来自 30 个国家的多层次数据的分析发现，只有在高度面向未来的国家中，客观的生态资源稀缺性才能积极预测个人的日常亲环境行为（研究 1）。随后在个人层面进行的两项研究再次确立了未来导向对感知生态资源稀缺性与亲环境行为之间的联系的调节作用（研究 2 和 3），并且因果效应也得到了澄清（研究 3）。具体来说，只有对面向未来的人来说，感知到的生态资源稀缺或提醒它才能积极促进亲环境行为。我们进一步用节水海报验证了适度假设，以探索潜在的实际意义，即只有在呈现“关注未来”的信息时，带有缺水信息的海报是否会产生有效的宣传效果（研究 4）。我们最后讨论了研究结果的理论和实践意义。