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Social science approaches to energy technology acceptance and diffusion
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Public engagement in local environmental planning and decision-making is often advocated on various grounds, both instrumental and normative. Yet in developed countries in the context of renewable energy infrastructure deployment, place attachment, place identity and place-protective action continue to be implicated in public objection. We set out an interdisciplinary change readiness hypothesis of specifically how local participatory scenario or visioning processes that include climate mitigation measures may support the mobilisation of place attachment for climate mitigation, including renewable energy deployment. We hypothesise that local visioning may support movement towards change readiness by helping to anchor unfamiliar social representations of low carbon energy infrastructure and new patterns of urban form in existing, more positive representations of localities and associated attachments. To this end, seeking ways to modify threat perceptions relating to climate change and renewable energy infrastructure is advocated as a key direction for study.
The circular structure of basic human values is the core element of the Schwartz value theory. The structure demonstrated high robustness across cultures. However, the specific correlations between values and the differences in these correlations across countries have received little attention. The current research investigated the within-country correlations between the four higher order values. We estimated the correlations with meta-analytical mixed effects models based on 10 surveys, on different value instruments, and on data from 104 countries. Analyses revealed theoretically expected negative relations between openness to change and conservation values and between self-transcendence and self-enhancement values. More interestingly, openness to change and self-transcendence values related negatively with each other, as did conservation and self-enhancement. Openness to change and self-enhancement values related predominantly positively, as did conservation and self-transcendence values. Correlations between the adjacent values were weaker in more economically developed countries, revealing higher value complexity of these societies. These findings were consistent across multiple surveys and after controlling for levels of education and income inequality. We concluded that, across most countries, values tend to be organized predominantly in line with the Social versus Person Focus opposition, whereas the Growth versus Self-Protection opposition is pronounced only in more economically developed countries.
As most consumers do not have pre-existing knowledge of electric vehicles (EVs), and current market conditions favour petrol and diesel vehicles, car dealership experiences may strongly influence EV purchasing decisions. Here, we show that car dealerships pose a significant barrier at the point of sale due to a perceived lack of business case viability in relation to petrol and diesel vehicles. In 126 shopping experiences at 82 car dealerships across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, we find that dealers were dismissive of EVs, misinformed shoppers on vehicle specifications, omitted EVs from the sales conversation and strongly oriented customers towards petrol and diesel vehicle options. Dealers' technological orientation, willingness to sell and displayed knowledge of EVs were the main contributors to likely purchase intentions. These findings combined with expert interviews suggest that government and industry signalling affect sales strategies and purchasing trends. Policy and business strategies that address barriers at the point of sale are needed to accelerate EV adoption.
Social identity processes are at the heart of social psychological theory and research, and are known to play a pivotal role in a vast array of individual-level and social phenomena, including, for example, health and well-being (see, e.g., Branscombe, Schmitt & Harvey, 1999), educational achievement (see, e.g., Steele, Spencer & Aronson, 2002), and collective action and crowd behaviour (see, e.g., van Zomeren, Postmes, & Spears, 2008). This chapter provides a general overview of social psychological theory on social identity, including social identity theory (Tajfel, 1978; Tajfel & Turner, 1979) and self-categorization theory (Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987). Prior to these seminal writings of Tajfel and Turner, theoretical explanations of intergroup relations and intergroup conflict were dominated by two types of theory. First, so-called 'prejudice' accounts proposed that intergroup conflict arises due to individual-level variations in a prejudiced personality, and, later, by realistic group conflict theory (Campbell, 1965; Sherif, 1966). Second, realistic group conflict theory contended that negative intergroup relations are a consequence of conflicting group goals and a competition over resources or power (see e.g., Jackson, 1993, for a review). Compared with these types of theory, social identity theory and self-categorization theory offered a unique and theoretically advanced account to explaining intergroup relations, and one that remains important to this day. In fact, these two linked theoretical approaches constitute the most popular social-psychological approach to intergroup relations (yielding over 2.2 million and 7,910 entries in Google Scholar, respectively).
Within the last decade, bricolage, as an approach to qualitative inquiry, has gained popularity in academic circles. However, while conceptual and concrete precedents exist, the approach has remained relatively misunderstood, and unpopular, in broader research communities. This may be because the complexity of the approach has stymied widespread discussions and commentary. This article means to address this concern by providing a thick, yet accessible, introduction to bricolage as an approach to qualitative inquiry. While researchers and scholars have conceptualized bricolage, few have attempted to provide an overview of how the concept emerged in relation to qualitative research. Further, while the literature on bricolage offers invaluable conceptual insights, lacking is a survey that provides clear examples of how bricolage has been implemented in research contexts. Therefore, while greatest attention in this article is devoted to contextualizing bricolage and introducing influential theorists, it also provides key examples of research that adopts the bricolage approach. In drawing on a plurality of sources, the article provides a thick discussion of the complex bricolage project; one that can be beneficial to both novice and seasoned researchers who pursue alternative methodological approaches.
Drawing on 87 articles retrieved through a systematic literature review approach, this study aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of grassroots innovations (GIs). It synthesizes the state-of-the-art research on GIs and considers various sectors, the tensions between three different facets of grassroots movements (GMs), and the main forces that drive or hinder GMs. The study finds that community energy, community currency, cohousing, agriculture, and organic food are dominant sectors for grassroots innovations, while GMs work under the tension of three facets: scaling up, sustainability, and success. This study also identifies the main driving forces and hindrances for GMs. Based on the limitations and identified gaps in the research, this study suggests avenues for future research.
This paper conducts content and bibliometric analysis of 857 articles representing the knowledge domain for the social acceptance of energy technology and fuels. The objective is to identify basic trends and characteristics in the literature, identify current research fronts and pivotal papers therein, and map these fronts to their respective intellectual bases. We accomplish this by analyzing metadata, keyword use and citation networks within our dataset. We conclude with an evaluation of influence, structure, and collaboration and interdisciplinary dialogue in the field.
The energy cultures framework has had widespread use in studies of the energy-related implications of habitual behaviour and behaviour change, and to other topics including mobility, water and carbon-related outcomes. As a heuristic that has become widely used because it helps researchers to make sense of how cultural formations influence sustainability outcomes, it is timely to explore its relationship to cultural theory. I discuss the origins and applications of the framework and elaborate its underpinning concepts about the relationship between cultural formations and sustainability outcomes. I contrast these concepts with cultural theory and conclude that the sustainability cultures approach has similar roots to practice theory, but diverges at several key points. The actor-centred articulation of cultural attributes and their outcomes, with its main focus on actors' agency in cultural change, contrasts with practice theory's view of actors as 'carriers' of routine practices. It aligns most closely with Bourdieu's habitus although more substantial theoretical enquiry is needed to explore linkages to Bourdieu's interest in praxis. Sustainability cultures offers an approach to investigating the significant cultural changes that will be required for a sustainable future.
Despite the signing of the Paris climate agreement, there is still great uncertainty regarding the world's ability to decarbonize and meet the 2 °C target. In this regard, the electricity production sector deserves particular attention. The sector has the largest decarbonization potential and its share of the world's CO2 emissions from fuel combustion increased from 30% in 1990 to 36% in 2014. To better understand global trends, this study analyses the factors influencing changes in the global aggregate carbon intensity (ACI) of electricity, a measure of the level of CO2 emissions per unit of electricity produced, over the last 25 years using multidimensional index decomposition analysis. It finds that global ACI barely improved since 1990 because of a shift in electricity production from developed to developing countries with higher ACIs. This geographical shift offset consistent improvements to power generation efficiency worldwide and is likely to persist in the future. To keep the 2 °C target realisable, it is imperative to enhance international cooperation to lower the ACIs of emerging economies and deepen the penetration of renewables, which have thus far performed below expectations.
This thesis is a social psychological study on ideas of well-being in later life by older adults, staff members, and volunteers involved in community support. Social representations theory constitutes the theoretical lens through which social constructions of well-being are examined. This project constitutes an ethnography of how groups represent wellness in later life, and how they evaluate receiving and giving support. Three day centres and a scheme of home visits of a voluntary organisation in the United Kingdom were the main sites of this study. Participant observation and 54 in-depth interviews were the main data sources. The study shows that both clients and practitioners understand wellness in later life as the result of an active, independent, and gainful living. This idea was shared amongst all groups in both settings, indicating the prevalence of a hegemonic view of wellness. This view is present in public understandings and professional discourse on ageing well. Nevertheless, clients and practitioners also challenged this ideology of wellness by representing ageing both as experience of gains (e.g. vitality and autonomy) and limitations (e.g. frailty and social isolation). These views are represented via two binary oppositional themes: activity-passivity and independence dependence. Moreover, clients and practitioners highlight the importance of health, adaptation, and relationships of support to attain well-being in old age. The concept of canonic themata and the evidence of a complex representational field around the theme of ageing constitute important empirical insights with which to understand the sharedness of well-being amongst all groups. Differences were observed in the way in which clients and practitioners position themselves – the first groups as receivers of help, whereas the second one as providers of care. Moreover, clients represent themselves as active and independent despite being recipients of support. In negotiating their views of independence, they preserve a positive sense of identity and accept help from others. Cognitive polyphasia also characterises thinking about well-being: physical, psychological, social, and material elements interact to promote wellness. The study also sheds light on how communities of support make sense of their practices. The concept of representational project offered a rich theoretical insight into how groups represent well-being promotion in the charity. Both clients and practitioners represent well-being promotion as actions to preserve functionality and participation in the community. Therefore, two set of actions were mentioned in both settings: socio-emotive and practical support. Implications for well-being policies and community support were addressed.