RT Journal Article
T1 ‘Yes, we care’: pro-environmental social identity framing to promote acceptance of decentralized wastewater treatment systems
A1 Gómez Román, Cristina
A1 Jans, Lise
A1 Steg, Linda
A1 Vila Tojo, Sergio
A1 Sabucedo Cameselle, José Manuel
K1 Decentralized wastewater treatment systems
K1 Pro-environmental social identity framing
K1 Public acceptance
K1 Sustainable initiatives
K1 Social influence
AB 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
PB IWA Publishing
YR 2024
FD 2024-11-18
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/44707
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/44707
LA eng
NO Gómez-Román, C., Jans, L., Steg, L., Vila-Tojo, S., & Sabucedo, J.M. (2024). “Yes, we care”: Pro-environmental social identity framing to promote acceptance of decentralized wastewater treatment systems. Water Reuse, 14(4), 510-526. https://doi.org/10.2166/wrd.2024.015
NO Galician Department of Education, University, and Professional Training (grant number ED431B 2019/07)
NO Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, and the Consellería de Economía, Emprego e Industria of the Xunta de Galicia
DS Minerva
RD 28 abr 2026