Emotions and policy information predicting water-quality policy support

Swim, Janet K.; Guerriero, Joseph G.; Gasper, Karen; DeCoster, Jamie; Lengieza, Micheal L.

Abstract

The public acknowledges the importance of water quality, and threats to water quality can provoke strong emotional responses. Despite this, the public often resists policies protecting water quality. Research with 349 US residents demonstrated that (1) emotions about specific water policies were more predictive of policy support than emotions about water quality and (2) hope about water policies was a particularly strong predictor of water policy support. In both between-person and within-person analyses, water-policy hope was a stronger predictor of water-policy support than water-policy anxiety, anger, and neutral affect–although these other emotions were related to water-policy support. These findings among water-policy emotions replicated results from a Pilot study with 148 US undergraduate students. The main study also demonstrated that water-policy support increased when policy descriptions explained how policies would improve water quality via hydro systems, and it did so by increasing feelings of water-policy hope. This research suggests that a full range of affective reactions to water policy and water quality should be considered when motivating support for policies protecting water quality.

Citation

Swim, J. K., Guerriero, J. G., Gasper, K., DeCoster, J., & Lengieza, M. L. (2024). Emotions and policy information predicting water-quality policy support. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 98, Article 102385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102385

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 25, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jul 26, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-09
• Deposit Date: Sep 5, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 5, 2024
• Journal: Journal of Environmental Psychology
• Print ISSN: 0272-4944
• Electronic ISSN: 1522-9610
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 98
• Article Number: 102385
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102385
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2798752