Energy transition: A psychological analysis
The nowadays unfavourable economic, social, and climatic framework (mass consumerism, globalisation, the reduction of the Earth’s habitable surface, increasing frequency and severity of natural catastrophes) has lead the individual of the 21st century to treat the question of energy transition from the angle of risk perception relating to the production and use of energy. This paper sets out first of all to examine some determining factors of the energy transition which are linked both to the economy and the notion of wealth in consumer societies as well as to the perception of a climate "change". Secondly we will present a psychological analysis of the perception of the energy transition from the angle of the psychometric paradigm, looking at the influence of factors which will modify and determine the perception of risk as well as underlying cognitive mechanisms. Finally, to illustrate these ideas, we analyse the installation of an offshore wind farm in Courseulles-sur-Mer (France).