Saxena, Emma (2024) Assessing the Effect of Visioning in Promoting Acceptance of Sustainable Policy Measures: An Investigation of Underlying Psychological Mechanisms. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Addressing urgent sustainability challenges such as climate change requires the implementation of transformative policy measures that can navigate societies towards sustainable pathways. However, the successful adoption of such policies is often impeded by resistance from various societal actors that perpetuate the status quo. Visioning, that is, the process of exploring desirable future states, has been identified as a crucial tool for instigating the radical change that is required to attain sustainable systems. Yet, psychological mechanisms that underly the transformative power of visioning remain largely unexplored. In an experimental online study (N = 275), this thesis tested whether envisioning a sustainable future leads to higher policy acceptance and whether this effect is mediated by motivation and positive emotions. Contradictory to previous findings, the study fails to detect significant effects of visioning on motivation, positive emotion or policy acceptance. In line with previous literature, however, it finds that motivation and both positive and negative emotions significantly predict policy acceptance. The absence of significant visioning effects is mainly attributed to flaws of the study’s manipulation and sample characteristics. To leverage the potential of visioning for driving sustainability transformations, future research should employ diverse samples to generate meaningful insights that support decision-makers in designing effective interventions that promote public support and collective action for sustainability.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
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| Supervisor name: | Bouman, T. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Environmental Psychology (EP) [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Jul 2024 06:17 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Jul 2024 06:17 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4130 |
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