Social acceptance of sustainable energy technologies: the role of beliefs in driving acceptability and acceptance of mitigation and adaptation technologies

This dissertation explores the social-psychological foundations underlying the social acceptance of Sustainable Energy Technologies (SETs), i.e., crucial elements in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The research centers on an analysis of how beliefs about the technology to be adopted characteristics, the adoption contexts, the adopters themselves, and their interactions, influence the social acceptability and acceptance of these technologies. Positioning the research within the theoretical framework of normative influence, the study highlights how perceptions of major clusters of social-psychological factors, namely, necessity, moral obligation, social expectations, and emotional responses, intersect to drive acceptance. A multi-method series of studies combines meta-analyses, correlational methods, and experimental approaches to assess various SETs by integrating insights from strictly normative influence with socio-technical theories. By aligning technological advancement with these foundational beliefs, this dissertation provides theoretical understanding and practical strategies for embedding SETs in the public sphere as instruments of sustainable collective action, promoting collective aspirations and individual actionable pathways toward climate resilience.