‘Yes, we care’: pro-environmental social identity framing to promote acceptance of decentralized wastewater treatment systems

  1. Gómez-Román, Cristina 1
  2. Jans, Lise 1
  3. Steg, Linda 1
  4. Vila-Tojo, Sergio 1
  5. Sabucedo, José-Manuel 1
  1. 1 Social Psychology, Basic and Methodology, University of Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Revista:
Water Reuse

ISSN: 2709-6092,  2709-6106

Ano de publicación: 2024

Tipo: Artigo

DOI: 10.2166/WRD.2024.015 WoS: WOS:001357937400001 GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAcceso aberto editor

Outras publicacións en: Water Reuse

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Resumo

Decentralized wastewater treatment systems can help mitigate the water crisis. Their successful implementation depends not only on their technological design but also on the level of public support. We aim to assess how a pro-environmental social identity framing in which we present a decentralized wastewater treatment system as an environmentally responsible neighborhood initiative may increase public support of these systems. Two experimental studies examined the impact of pro-environmental social identity framing on public acceptance of decentralized wastewater systems in Groningen (the Netherlands) (n = 92) and Santiago de Compostela (Spain) (n = 208). As expected, pro-environmental social identity framing increased public acceptance in both studies, irrespective of the extent to which people identify with their neighborhood. Specifically, participants in the pro-environmental social identity framing condition displayed more positive attitudes, more positive and less negative emotions, and higher voting intentions toward the decentralized wastewater systems compared to those in the control condition. These results suggest that connecting such systems to shared neighborhood identities can be an effective strategy for overcoming barriers to their implementation. Our study offers valuable insights for policymakers, community leaders, and environmental advocates to craft messages to promote the adoption of decentralized wastewater systems

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