Integrating Utopian Constructs: A Preliminary Investigation of Their Similarities and Predictive Power on Social Change Intentions

Abstract

In a world facing significant planetary health challenges, the power of prospection—our capacity to envision and shape future possibilities—gains importance. Recently, three conceptualisations have been introduced to measure individuals’ inclination and ability to imagine desirable societal alternatives: utopian, transformative utopian impulse for planetary health, and environmental cognitive alternatives. We propose that these constructs, founded on different theoretical bases, each offer unique perspectives on a common process: the mental simulation of societies that positively deviate from the status quo, which we refer to as collective positive prospection. Data from a correlational survey (N = 485) show that these dimensions, while distinct, are highly interrelated, supporting their potential complementarity for understanding individual differences in collective positive prospection. Results also emphasise the importance of integrating these diverse dimensions to enhance the prediction of intentions, particularly pro-environmental intentions. Furthermore, our results suggest that the precision of prospection content, alongside its compatibility with behaviours, enhances predictive accuracy. Although preliminary, these findings provide valuable insights on both theoretical and practical levels, highlighting the importance of integrating diverse conceptualizations to better understand the functioning of collective positive prospection and suggesting that an integrative scale could be beneficial for future research in this area.