Seiffert, Paula Luise (2025) Strategic or Sincere? How the Timing of Citizen Involvement Affects Perceptions of Renewable Energy Projects. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Public resistance often hinders the implementation of renewable energy projects, and while citizen participation can reduce opposition, how such involvement is organized and perceived remains underexplored. This study examines how the timing of a developer’s invitation for a local energy cooperation (EC) to join a renewable energy project influences public perceptions of the developer’s motivations, as well as perceptions of procedural fairness, acceptance, and willingness to join the EC. We hypothesized that early involvement of ECs signals more intrinsic developer motivations, thereby increasing perceived fairness, acceptance, and willingness to join the EC. In a preregistered online experiment (N = 246), participants read a scenario describing a renewable energy project involving a developer and an EC, with the EC included either early (planning phase) or late (post-construction). Early involvement, compared to late involvement, led to higher perceived intrinsic motivations, procedural fairness, and project acceptance. However, perceived extrinsic motivations also contributed to higher levels of perceived procedural fairness and project acceptance. Mediation analyses showed that perceptions of the developer’s motivation partially explained the relationship between the timing of involvement and public responses, but this effect was not driven specifically by intrinsic motivations. The results offer practical implications for developers and policymakers who aim to build more public acceptance and advance a just energy transition, as early citizen engagement can lead to more positive responses to renewable energy projects, partly by shaping how developer motivations are perceived.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
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| Supervisor name: | Jans, L. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Environmental Psychology (EP) [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Jul 2025 08:57 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Jul 2025 08:57 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5593 |
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