Cultures With a History of Water Scarcity Think More for the Future—And What That Might Mean for Climate Change

People can live without food for weeks but water for only days. Since water is so critical for survival, it would make sense if water scarcity has shaped human cultures in dry environments. Of course, dry and rainy countries vary in lots of ways besides just water. To get a cleaner comparison, we tested people in two nearby regions of Iran—one in an environment with plentiful water. We find that Iranians in a water-scarce province endorse long-term orientation more and indulgence less than people in a nearby water-rich province. This replicated comparing 82 countries around the world and in a field study where we tracked applications for ads we posted for a long-term job ad and a short-term flexible job. In the lab, priming students to think about increasing water scarcity from climate change caused them to endorse long-term orientation more. Finally, long-term orientation went up in US states that experienced a drought but down in other states. In sum, cultures in water-scarce environments value thinking for the long term more and indulgence less.