The Intersecting Effects of Gender and Hedonic Values on Renewable Energy Policy Support

Abstract

Climate change is one of the greatest threats to human health in the 21st century with its effects that worsen existing illnesses and create new public health challenges. Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and are by far the largest contributor to climate change. By shifting toward renewable energy, we can not only cut emissions, but also promote a more sustainable and healthy future. This study experimentally investigates the impact of providing imagine-self and imagine-other perspective-taking message conditions on individuals’ support for renewables policy support as a function of one’s gender and value orientations. Our findings, from 364 US-based individuals, show that different perspective-taking messages interact with hedonic values on renewable energy policy support and that the effect is gender-dependent. Across the board, we found that the imagine-other perspective-taking condition was a significant predictor for renewables policy support and that women with lower hedonic values were more likely to support policy for renewable energy when asked to imagine another in distress (imagine-other) as opposed to imagining themselves in the shoes of another in distress (imagine-self) and the no perspective-taking control. These findings conclude policymakers and communicators need to keep the greater audience of their message in mind when discussing renewables as there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach that resonates with all groups for communicating climate-related messaging to promote renewables policy for public health.