Who accepts and why do people accept (or refuse) sustainable (mitigation and adaptation) energy technologies? Understanding the role of beliefs and attitudes through multiple approaches

New sustainable and renewable energy solutions are essential for mitigating the effects of climate change (e.g., renewable energies such as solar energy) and facilitating adaptation (e.g., geoengineering). In recent years, the energy sector has seen a surge of studies on the social acceptance of these technologies. It is therefore imperative to integrate the research into a cohesive and all-encompassing viewpoint to take advantage of the cumulative knowledge in the field. Through two studies, respectively two series of meta-analyses (Study 1) and a survey (Study 2), the current research seeks to explore the main social-psychological, contextual, and technological determinants of the social acceptance of such technologies, providing a thorough understanding of the phenomenon. Study 1: Two series of meta-analyses analyze how social acceptance of renewable and sustainable energy technologies (of both mitigation and adaptation) is influenced by beliefs about social-psychological, technological, and contextual aspects. The results show that adopters' social-psychological beliefs, in addition to context- and technology-related beliefs, have a greater influence on social acceptance than exclusively individual (e.g., cognitive) or sociodemographic variables. Study 2: Building on the State of the Art and the results of Study 1, a survey was developed to investigate - through different methodological approaches - the characteristics of people most likely to accept such technologies and the impact of social-psychological, contextual, and technological beliefs on the social acceptance of these technologies. Precisely, the survey investigates the crucial beliefs’ impact on attitudes to promote subsequent acceptance behavioral intentions. Finally, the survey highlights similarities and differences in the social acceptance process of mitigation and adaptation technologies. The results of the research improve the understanding about beliefs’ influence on the social acceptance of renewable energy technologies, to strengthen efforts against climate change. This knowledge bears applied implications in terms of possible interventions capable to manage the relevant beliefs.