Explanatory model of the psychosocial variables related to the social acceptance of a uranium mine project in northwest Spain

Frontiers in Psychology

Psychology

Gonzalo Sánchez-Tabernero¹  José Ignacio Galán¹  Carmen Tabernero²  Antonio R. Hidalgo-Muñoz² 

[1] Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain;Faculty of Psychology, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain;Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León (INCYL), University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain;

关键词: social conflict;    uranium mine;    acceptance or rejection;    explanatory model;    environmental beliefs;    risk perception;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1134499

 received in 2022-12-30, accepted in 2023-04-26,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionThe demographic growth and the development of the welfare system have been accompanied by an important social dilemma between preserving nature or promoting energy development by assuming the benefits and risks of both proposals. This research attempts to address this social dilemma by analyzing the psychosocial factors that influence the acceptance or rejection of a new uranium mining development and exploitation project. The main objective was to test an explanatory theoretical model of uranium mining project acceptance, based on the interrelation of sociodemographic variables (e.g., age, gender, economic and educational situation, and level of knowledge about uranium energy) and cognitive variables (e.g., environmental beliefs, risk, and benefit perceptions), along with the activation of an emotional balance in response to the proposal of constructing a uranium mine.MethodThree hundred seventy-one individuals responded to the questionnaire about the variables included in the model.ResultsThe results showed that older participants showed lower levels of agreement with the mining proposal people, while women and those with greater knowledge of nuclear energy perceived greater risks and had a more negative emotional balance. The proposed explanatory model based on sociodemographic, cognitive, and affective variables showed good fit indices for explaining the assessment of the uranium mine. Thus, age, level of knowledge, risks and benefits, and emotional balance had a direct effect on the acceptance of the mine. Likewise, emotional balance showed a partial mediation effect between the relationships existing between the perception of benefits and risks and the acceptance of the mining proposal.DiscussionThe results are discussed based on the consideration of analyzing sociodemographic, cognitive, and affective variables to understand potential conflicts in communities affected by energy projects.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Sánchez-Tabernero, Hidalgo-Muñoz, Galán and Tabernero.