Beliefs about impacts matter little for attitudes on shale gas development

Evensen, Darrick ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8892-0052 and Stedman, Richard 2017. Beliefs about impacts matter little for attitudes on shale gas development. Energy Policy 109 , pp. 10-21. 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.06.053

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Abstract

Do facts lead to positive/negative views about energy development or vice versa? The answer matters crucially for policy and communication – if perceptions of what is true (beliefs) precede feelings (attitudes), additional information could shape views on an energy technology; yet, if attitudes precede beliefs, the usefulness of communication, either for influencing beliefs or simply making the public more informed, is far less clear. A long history of social-psychological research asserts that individuals’ beliefs predict their attitudes on environmental issues. Nevertheless, other theories intimate the reverse – attitudes shape beliefs, specifically on newly emergent, controversial topics. We investigated whether attitudes (i.e., support and opposition) about the contentious issue of shale gas development stem from or lead to beliefs about development. We collected data from random-sample surveys – of residents in the Marcellus Shale region and of a national US sample. Factor analyses and structural equation modelling lead us to question the dominant assumption that beliefs precede attitudes – the reverse, or a recursive relationship, appears more likely. Broad values and place attachment precede attitude formation more reliably than beliefs about impacts do – suggesting need for a larger focus in energy policy on core values and the ways in which development could foster or compromise these values.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Energy Systems Research Institute (ESURI) Sustainable Places Research Institute (PLACES) Psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0301-4215
Funders:	European Union Horizon 2020, grant numbers 640715 and 663830
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	27 June 2017
Date of Acceptance:	25 June 2017
Last Modified:	07 Nov 2023 21:50
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/101760

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