The Association Between Emotions and Public Acceptance of Recycled Water for Urban Residents

Abstract

Worldwide water scarcity has prompted governments to develop alternative water resources, and public acceptance plays a critical role in the implementation of recycled water projects. The aim of this study was to explore how public acceptance can be affected by people’s emotional responses to recycled water. In study 1, the general population was divided into four groups, clustering analysis with the intensity of various emotions was conducted, and the association between emotions and acceptance was explored. In study 2, the emotions, people’s acceptance, and “objects of care” of water treatment experts were compared with those of members of the general population for further study. We found that the objects of care shortened the psychological distance between individuals and recycled water, which led people to generate specific emotions to recycled water. In a broader context, the study suggested that various emotions motivate people’s behavior to accept or oppose the use of recycled water.

The Gap between Willingness and Behavior: The Use of Recycled Water for Toilet Flushing in Beijing, China

“…Previous studies have investigated the relationship between self-perceived knowledge level and acceptance and concluded that greater knowledge or awareness is associated with increased recycled water acceptance [34,35]. Public acceptance is also influenced by other people's opinions, social norms, information disclosure, and other external context factors [36][37][38]. Previous studies have found that environmental education and publicity or disclosure of water information from authorities or the media can influence the acceptance of recycled water [35,39].…”

Validation of an Instrument to measure the acceptance of a technology for the self-removal of human excreta adapted to Dry Toilets

“…En cuanto al aspecto funcional relacionado a la temática de este trabajo [2] , [9], [10] y [11] se menciona que el diseño del inodoros con separador de orina se acepta cuando se evidencian otros beneficios como ahorro del agua y reutilizar la orina como abono, mientras que en cuanto a la percepción formal, existen investigaciones que describe como se implementa y se acepta de parte de los encuestados, el inodoro mejorado adaptado a la posición de cuclillas [2], debido a la inclusión de un aspecto cultural en la forma externa del diseño, que es la porcelana blanca imitando la vasija oriental de la Dinastía Yi coreana, lo cual hizo que tenga altos niveles de preferencia debido a la integración de esta característica cultural ancestral en su diseño. El antecedente que tiene un mecanismo similar al propuesto en esta investigación [12] tiene aceptación en contextos socio-culturales de pobreza.…”

Construction of Urban Water Source Circulating Water Pollution Prevention System Based on Semi-supervised Learning and Bayesian Algorithm

“…Hess, David J investigated the utilization degree mode of two main indirect uses of circulating water: double network system and groundwater recharge [4]. Ding, Yizhe analyzed the relationship between urban residents' feelings for reclaimed water and public acceptance [5]. Greenaway, Tameika's research found that positive emotional information framework could reduce risk perception and improve acceptance of circulating water [6].…”