Laypeople’s Affective Images of Energy Transition Pathways

Abstract

This paper explores the public perception of energy transition pathways, that is, individual behaviors, political strategies, and technologies that aim to foster a shift toward a low-carbon and sustainable society. We employed affective image analysis, a structured method based on free associations to explore positive and negative connotations and affective meanings. Affective image analysis allows to tap into affective meanings and to compare these meanings across individuals, groups, and cultures. Data were collected among university students in Norway (n = 106) and Germany (n = 125). A total of 25 energy transition pathway components were presented to the participants who generated one free association to each component by indicating the first that came to mind when thinking of the component. Participants evaluated their associations by indicating whether they considered each association to be positive, negative, or neutral. These associations were coded by two research assistants, which resulted in 2650 coded responses in the Norwegian sample and 2846 coded responses in the German sample. Results for the two samples are remarkably similar. The most frequent type of association is a general evaluation of the component, for example concerning its valence or its importance. The second most frequent types of association are requirements needed to implement the component (e.g., national policies) and consequences of the component (e.g., personal or environmental consequences). Individual behaviors (e.g., walking) elicited thoughts about consequences and requirements, but also about the prevalence of such behaviors. Associations in response to technologies (e.g., carbon capture and storage) mainly referred to some descriptive aspect of the technology. Evaluations of the free responses were predominantly positive, but some components also elicited negative associations, especially nuclear power. The free associations that people generate suggest that they have vague and unspecific knowledge about energy transition pathways, that they process them in an automatic and intuitive rather than deliberative manner, and that they have clear affective evaluations of the presented components.

Using Card Sorting to Explore the Mental Representation of Energy Transition Pathways Among Laypeople

“…One cluster can be interpreted as referencing actions concerning individuals and/or households, another cluster seems concerned with technological solutions and the third cluster appears to represent actions located at the societal and/or political level. The overall pattern that emerged from the card sorting fits literature suggesting that laypeople construe energy transition as a multifaceted issue (Böhm et al, in press), but that corresponding mental representations are rather broad (Böhm et al, 2018). This interpretation was supported by the analysis of the open response data in which general terms such as “individual level” or “politics” were frequently used when participants stated criteria based on which they conducted the sorting (Table 2).…”

“…A selection of 25 different energy transition pathway components was presented on paperboard cards, each card featuring one component; an overview is provided in Table 1. The components resemble those used in a study by Böhm et al (2018) who based their selection upon desk research, interviews with laypeople (i.e., university students), as well as interviews with experts (i.e., climate and political scientists). Each component belonged to one of three implementation levels (i.e., individual actions, societal actions or technologies) and one of two types of energy-related activities (i.e., efficiency or curtailment) described earlier in the introduction.…”

“…2This is different to an energy transition pathway , which can be described as “a combination of steps that are taken with the aim of reducing carbon emissions and improving the sustainability of energy use and production”(Böhm et al, 2018, p. 2).…”

Knowledge and risk perception about an Ebola virus outbreak: a comparative study of Ghana and Liberia

“…Respondents may then provide their directional evaluation of their mental image or word by rating it. More importantly for this study, affective images provide insight into individual and public discourses and interpretive frameworks about a topic because they are based on personal experiences, cultural, communal, and social discourses or media reporting [20]. Although affective imagery analysis may be viewed as an imprecise measure of affect, it is useful for assessing the 'range, structure, and salience of respondents' associations with the stimulus term' ( [21], p. 21).…”

Remembering and Communicating Climate Change Narratives – The Influence of World Views on Selective Recollection

“…), (b) intentions of relevant actors (e.g., who is responsible for climate change?) (Böhm and Pfister, 2001, 2005, 2008; Bostrom et al, 2012), and (c) affective and moral evaluations of strategies to mitigate climate change as well as of consequences of climate change (Böhm et al, 2018; Doran et al, 2018).…”