TY - JOUR
T1 - Unequal means more unfair means more negative emotions?
T2 - Ethical concerns and emotions about an unequal distribution of negative outcomes of a local energy project.
AU - Huijts, Nicole
AU - Contzen, Nadja
AU - Roeser, Sabine
N1 - Funding Information:
This research is conducted within the research project “ Developing socially responsible innovations: The role of values and moral emotions ” with project number 313-99-312 , which is financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and co-funded by several industry partners. The authors of this paper independently conducted and reported the study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - Emotions may play an important role in how citizens respond to public policies, and energy policies in particular. Yet, little insights exist into causes of those emotions. This study investigates ethical concerns as the basis of emotions. We test whether people perceive an unequal distribution of negative outcomes of a local energy project as more unfair than an equal distribution thereof and, in turn, experience stronger negative emotions (hypothesis 1) and whether these effects depend on whether the project has personal consequences or not (i.e. the self-relevance of the project; hypothesis 2). In an experiment with a 2 (equal vs. unequal distribution) by 2 (self-relevant vs. not self-relevant) design (N = 282), we find support for hypothesis 1, but not 2. Furthermore, we find that perceived total amount of harm, an ethical concern about the total amount of negative outcomes bestowed on all people together, is also (marginally significantly) affected by the unequal distribution and relates to the emotions. We argue that justified ethical concerns are at the root of emotions about renewable energy projects and therefore emotions and their underlying ethical concerns should be considered for socially responsible as well as successful energy policy making.
AB - Emotions may play an important role in how citizens respond to public policies, and energy policies in particular. Yet, little insights exist into causes of those emotions. This study investigates ethical concerns as the basis of emotions. We test whether people perceive an unequal distribution of negative outcomes of a local energy project as more unfair than an equal distribution thereof and, in turn, experience stronger negative emotions (hypothesis 1) and whether these effects depend on whether the project has personal consequences or not (i.e. the self-relevance of the project; hypothesis 2). In an experiment with a 2 (equal vs. unequal distribution) by 2 (self-relevant vs. not self-relevant) design (N = 282), we find support for hypothesis 1, but not 2. Furthermore, we find that perceived total amount of harm, an ethical concern about the total amount of negative outcomes bestowed on all people together, is also (marginally significantly) affected by the unequal distribution and relates to the emotions. We argue that justified ethical concerns are at the root of emotions about renewable energy projects and therefore emotions and their underlying ethical concerns should be considered for socially responsible as well as successful energy policy making.
U2 - 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112963
DO - 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112963
M3 - Article
VL - 165
JO - Energy policy
JF - Energy policy
SN - 0301-4215
IS - 112963
M1 - 112963
ER -