Energy Citizenship: Revealing the Intrinsic Motivational Factors Suggested by Self-Determination Theory

Janis Brizga () and Aivaras Vijaikis
Additional contact information
Janis Brizga: Social-Ecological Systems Governance Lab, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Latvia, LV-1004 Riga, Latvia
Aivaras Vijaikis: Institute of Psychology, Mykolas Romeris University, Ateities 20, 08303 Vilnius, Lithuania

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 21, 1-13

Abstract: This study investigated the motivational factors driving energy citizenship through the lens of self-determination theory. Utilizing data from a survey of 749 respondents, we examined the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations in predicting energy citizenship. Our findings reveal that intrinsic motivations, such as personal responsibility for climate change, community involvement, and the desire to reduce one’s carbon footprint, significantly predict engagement in energy citizenship. Conversely, extrinsic motivations, including financial incentives and external pressures, were not significant predictors. The study underscores the importance of intrinsic motivations in fostering sustained pro-environmental behaviours, particularly as the complexity of these behaviours increases. These insights suggest that policymakers should focus on enhancing intrinsic motivations through education, community engagement, and autonomy-supportive initiatives to promote active participation in sustainable energy practices.

Keywords: energy citizenship; motivation; self-determination theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/21/9365/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/21/9365/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:21:p:9365-:d:1508543

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().