Hou, G.; Chen, T.; Ma, K.; Liao, Z.; Xia, H.; Yao, T. Improving Social Acceptance of Waste-to-Energy Incinerators in China: Role of Place Attachment, Trust, and Fairness. Sustainability2019, 11, 1727.
Hou, G.; Chen, T.; Ma, K.; Liao, Z.; Xia, H.; Yao, T. Improving Social Acceptance of Waste-to-Energy Incinerators in China: Role of Place Attachment, Trust, and Fairness. Sustainability 2019, 11, 1727.
Hou, G.; Chen, T.; Ma, K.; Liao, Z.; Xia, H.; Yao, T. Improving Social Acceptance of Waste-to-Energy Incinerators in China: Role of Place Attachment, Trust, and Fairness. Sustainability2019, 11, 1727.
Hou, G.; Chen, T.; Ma, K.; Liao, Z.; Xia, H.; Yao, T. Improving Social Acceptance of Waste-to-Energy Incinerators in China: Role of Place Attachment, Trust, and Fairness. Sustainability 2019, 11, 1727.
Abstract
Globally, public acceptance of waste-to-energy (WtE) incinerators is a crucial factor in implementing national waste-to-energy policies. This study adds to the literature on anti-incinerator sentiment by drawing upon an extended psychological-emotional model that integrates place-, trust-, and fairness-based pathways. A total of 338 residents in the Asuwei area in North Beijing completed a survey on a proposal to construct a WtE incinerator in the vicinity. Hierarchical regression analyses indicate that place attachment positively enhances anti-incinerator sentiment through direct effects, as well as through moderation and mediation effects between risk perception and opposing willingness. Further, institutional trust negatively moderates the impact of perceived risk on anti-incinerator sentiment, in addition to directly reducing perceived risk. Trust also influences anti-incinerator sentiment via risk perception, attesting to the effectiveness of a casual model of trust. Likewise, fairness perception acts as another determinant of opposing sentiment, similar to trust. We further reveal that procedural fairness plays a more significant role in predicting anti-incinerator sentiment than does distributional fairness. These findings demonstrate the importance of using a range of instrumental and more affective strategies to promote social acceptance of renewable energy infrastructure.
Keywords
anti-incinerator sentiment; place attachment; trust; fairness; waste-to-energy
Subject
SOCIAL SCIENCES, Sociology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
