Exploring The Effects Of Perceived Stress On Public Acceptance Of Waste-to-Energy Incineration Facilities

Waste-to-energy technology is an important method for solving urban waste problems,as it can achieve harmless,reduction,and resource utilization of waste.However,the construction of waste-to-energy facilities may bring negative impacts on local residents,and these projects often face resistance from the local public during construction and operation.In academia,public acceptance is often used to measure public acceptance of new technologies.There are many factors that influence public acceptance regarding waste-to-energy facilities,such as perceived risk/benefit/equity/trust,etc.Among these,perceived stress is an important psychosocial state for individuals and has been shown to influence residents’perceptions and social decision-making behaviors regarding risky facilities.However,the mechanism of the influence of perceived stress on the public acceptance of waste-to-energy facilities has not been adequately studied.Therefore,this study explores whether and how perceived stress has an impact on the public acceptance of waste-to-energy facilities,draws corresponding management insights,and proposes strategies to enhance the social acceptance of waste-to-energy facilities.This study explores the dilemma of the development of waste-to-energy facilities in China and aims to understand the potential mechanisms of the influence of perceived pressure on public acceptance of waste-to-energy facilities,using attribution theory as the theoretical basis.First,this study constructs a theoretical model of the influence of perceived stress on public acceptance through a literature combing and theoretical analysis research method.Second,a face-to-face questionnaire survey is conducted to obtain data from 1066 urban residents in three regional central cities in China,and the stability and reliability of the theoretical model is verified using a difference test method and structural equation model.Finally,the strategies to enhance public acceptance of waste-to-energy facilities are proposed through three aspects:physical support,deontological planning,and human coordination.The results show that first,residents with low levels of perceived stress have higher acceptance of waste-to-energy facilities;second,the influence of demographic characteristics(gender,age,and education)on public acceptance changes at different levels of perceived stress;third,perceived stress affects public acceptance by influencing perceived risk,perceived fairness,and public trust;and fourth,in the eastern region,perceived stress affects perceived public acceptance mainly through perceived risk,while in the western region,perceived stress affects public acceptance mainly through public trust.The above research results not only enrich the knowledge system related to public acceptance of waste-to-energy facilities,but also expand the library of research results related to environmental psychology research in waste-to-energy facilities,providing theoretical references and references for the socially sustainable development of waste-to-energy facilities in China.In addition,the results of this study will help the government or relevant industry managers to introduce scientific and reasonable policies and measures,and provide new ideas to alleviate the public opposition problems encountered in the construction and operation of waste-to-energy facilities and promote high-quality urban development.