Why do people embrace renewable and sustainable energy technologies for mitigation and geoengineering for adaptation? Explore norms, emotions, and attitudes driving social acceptance

[Geoengineering News]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494426000368

Authors: Milani Alessandro, Dessi Federica, Bonaiuto Marino

03 February 2026

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102935

Highlights

•Normative influence (personal and social) drives acceptability and acceptance.

•Affective responses to risks and benefits drive acceptability and acceptance.

•Adaptation technologies require to be framed as necessary to gain public acceptance.

•Mitigation technologies evoke nuanced emotional and societal evaluations.

•Invariant social acceptance process across mitigation and adaptation technologies.

Abstract

The global push for sustainable energy and green technologies intensifies to achieve ecological and energy transitions. A key part of this challenge lies in ensuring society accepts both emerging and already available technologies. This study unravels the psychological drivers behind why people embrace or reject renewable and sustainable energy technologies for mitigation and geoengineering for adaptation, spotlighting the powerful interplay of personal (moral) and social norms as well as affective responses to risks and benefits. Using a multi-method approach combining path and psychometric network analyses, the research examines how these factors influence public attitudes (acceptability) and intentions (acceptance). Findings highlight personal and social norms directly and indirectly (through acceptability mediation) influence acceptance (intention to support, use, and pay for the technologies). In contrast, affective responses directly influence the intention to support and indirectly (through acceptability mediation) influence the intention to use and pay for the technologies. Moreover, results reveal that geoengineering technologies rely heavily on perceptions of necessity to garner acceptance, whereas renewable and sustainable energy technologies elicit more complex affective and evaluative reactions, reflecting their greater diffusion and the more sophisticated cognitive and emotional appraisals people have developed toward them. The results demonstrate the importance of leveraging normative influence (personal and social), fostering positive affective engagement, and considering necessity a key driver of acceptance. This research advances the understanding of societal acceptance dynamics, offering practical strategies to target key social-psychological variables to overcome individual's barriers and facilitate the transition to sustainable energy systems and innovative technologies.

Source: ScienceDirect