Perspective taking and public acceptance of nuclear energy: Mediation of trust in government and moderation of cultural values

Abstract

Given the increasing severity of global climate change, many countries such as China adopt nuclear energy as a priority strategy in energy policy because of its advantages of low carbon emissions and high electricity generation efficiency. However, public acceptance of nuclear energy (PANE) is a key factor that the government should to consider in making nuclear energy policy. Hence, understanding how to improve PANE is important. Based on the motivated information processing theory, this study explored the influence of perspective taking (PT) on PANE via competence-based and integrity-based trust in government, along with the moderating effects of power distance and uncertainty avoidance. The findings, based on 1,052 valid Chinese samples collected by an online questionnaire survey, indicated that PT was positively related to PANE. Competence-based and integrity-based trust in government mediated the effect of PT on PANE. Moreover, the results demonstrated power distance strengthens whereas uncertainty avoidance weakens the positive effect of PT on competence-based and integrity-based trust in government. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications for understanding the formation of PANE from perspective of public motivational factor related to information processing (i.e., PT), trust in government, and culture values.