Positive Affective Framing of Information Reduces Risk Perceptions and Increases Acceptance of Recycled Water

Despite the growing need to address water security through sourcing alternative supplies, public resistance remains a key barrier to the implementation of recycled water schemes in some parts of the world. We describe an experiment that varied the affective framing of recycled water information and assessed the effects on an Australian community sample (<i>N</i> = 208). Results showed that participants in the positive affective framing condition reported more positive and less negative affect toward recycled water compared to a control condition and less negative affect than participants in the negative affective framing condition. Importantly, results demonstrated that risk perceptions were lower and acceptance was higher in the positive affective framing condition than the negative affective framing condition or the control condition. Moreover, the effect of negative affect on acceptance was mediated through risk perceptions. Implications of the results for communication about recycled water are discussed.

尽管通过获取替代水源以保障水安全的需求日益增长，但在全球部分地区，公众抵触仍是再生水（recycled water）方案落地实施的关键阻碍。本研究介绍一项实验：该实验对再生水信息的情感框架进行变量设置，并评估其对澳大利亚社区样本（N=208）的影响。结果显示，相较于对照组，接受积极情感框架信息的参与者对再生水的情绪更积极、负面情绪更少；同时相较于接受消极情感框架信息的参与者，其负面情绪亦更低。尤为关键的是，结果表明，相较于消极情感框架组与对照组，积极情感框架组的风险感知更低，对再生水的接受度更高。此外，负面情绪对接受度的影响通过风险感知起到中介作用。本研究最后讨论了上述结果对再生水传播工作的启示。