TY - JOUR
T1 - The Role of Community in Understanding Involvement in Community Energy Initiatives
AU - Goedkoop, Fleur
AU - Sloot, Daniel
AU - Jans, Lise
AU - Dijkstra, Jacob
AU - Flache, Andreas
AU - Steg, Linda
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the ?Topsector Energie en Maatschappij? carried out by the Dutch Enterprise Agency (RVO) (project nos. TESA114010 and TESE115003).
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Goedkoop, Sloot, Jans, Dijkstra, Flache and Steg.
PY - 2022/2/9
Y1 - 2022/2/9
N2 - Community energy initiatives are set up by volunteers in local communities to promote sustainable energy behaviors and help to facilitate a sustainable energy transition. A key question is what motivates people to be involved in such initiatives. We propose that next to a stronger personal motivation for sustainable energy, people’s perception that their community is motivated to engage in sustainable energy and their involvement in the community (i.e., community identification and interpersonal contact) may affect their initiative involvement. We tested this proposition with a questionnaire study among inhabitants of seven local communities (N = 439). Results suggested that community factors are uniquely related to initiative involvement (willingness to actively participate and attendance of an initiative meeting) next to personal sustainable energy motivations. In particular, stronger community identification and more interpersonal contact with other community members increased the likelihood that people become involved in a community initiative, but the perception of the sustainable energy motivation of one’s community was not uniquely related to initiative involvement. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
AB - Community energy initiatives are set up by volunteers in local communities to promote sustainable energy behaviors and help to facilitate a sustainable energy transition. A key question is what motivates people to be involved in such initiatives. We propose that next to a stronger personal motivation for sustainable energy, people’s perception that their community is motivated to engage in sustainable energy and their involvement in the community (i.e., community identification and interpersonal contact) may affect their initiative involvement. We tested this proposition with a questionnaire study among inhabitants of seven local communities (N = 439). Results suggested that community factors are uniquely related to initiative involvement (willingness to actively participate and attendance of an initiative meeting) next to personal sustainable energy motivations. In particular, stronger community identification and more interpersonal contact with other community members increased the likelihood that people become involved in a community initiative, but the perception of the sustainable energy motivation of one’s community was not uniquely related to initiative involvement. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
KW - community energy initiatives
KW - community identification
KW - community involvement
KW - interpersonal contact
KW - personal motivation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85125246625&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.775752
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.775752
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85125246625
SN - 1664-1078
VL - 12
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
JF - Frontiers in Psychology
M1 - 775752
ER -