Public service motivation and not-in-my-backyard: The case of high-level radioactive waste disposal sites in Japan

Abstract

This study investigated the association between public service motivation (PSM) and the not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) reaction by the public that often blocks important projects. A conjoint experiment was conducted using the scenario of hypothetical plans for the construction of a high-level radioactive waste disposal site, one of the most noxious NIMBY facilities. The results showed that overall PSM (the full scale) had no association with the public’s willingness to accept such facilities. Still, we observed significant positive correlations for the PSM dimensions of attraction to public service and self-sacrifice, and a significant negative correlation with the PSM dimension of compassion. As expected, some dimensions of PSM strengthened (moderated) the positive effect of policy attributes on acceptance. Contrary to our prediction that PSM attenuates the relationship between distance and acceptance, overall PSM, commitment to public values, and compassion amplified the relationship. Together, these findings suggest the need to promote research considering the multifaceted nature of PSM in NIMBY problems.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Full replication materials are available at the Harvard Dataverse (https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/24TY4T).

Notes

1 This study did not implement pre-registration. Nonetheless, the data and analytical procedures applied are fully disclosed and available for reanalysis, underlining our commitment to ensuring the reliability and transparency of our results.

2 Asking about PSM before the conjoint experiments could lead to PSM activation, which invokes the “active engagement of existing levels of PSM” (Meyer-Sahling, Mikkelsen, and Schuster 2019). PSM activation potentially influences attitudes toward NIMBY facility acceptance, which also results in a bias between PSM and acceptance of NIMBY facilities. Several recent studies asked about PSM after experimental tasks to prevent such bias (Gans-Morse et al. 2022; Moynihan 2013; Prokop and Tepe 2019). On the contrary, there is the potential for an order effect, where PSM rating might be biased when asked about after evaluations regarding acceptance of NIMBY facilities. However, PSM is a relatively stable psychological variable (Kjeldsen 2014; Miller‐Mor‐Attias and Vigoda‐Gadot 2022). Meyer-Sahling, Mikkelsen, and Schuster (2019) also suggest that we should be more concerned about the bias from PSM activation than the order effect of asking about PSM after the experiments.

3 If the number of profiles presented at one time is two, and the maximum number of levels is eight or less, it is sufficient to have about 4000 “respondents × trials” (Song and Zenkyo 2016). This study had 7,200; we thus had enough samples for estimation.

4 See Supplementary Appendix A9 for the results based on the rating tasks. In the main text, we report results for the forced-choice tasks, where AMCEs can be easily interpreted as probabilities. However, our argument remains the same regardless of whether we focus on forced-choice tasks or rating tasks.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc.

Notes on contributors

Reona Hayashi

Reona Hayashi ([email protected]), Ph.D., is a Professor at Department of Political Science at Hosei University. His current research focuses on human resource development in the public sector and mechanisms underlying the formation of people’s attitudes toward policy acceptance.

Taka-aki Asano

Taka-aki Asano ([email protected]), Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at Faculty of Law, Kansai University. His research interests include political communication, voting behavior, and the structure of public preferences.

So Morikawa

So Morikawa ([email protected]), PhD., is an Assistant Professor at Department of Civil Engineering, the University of Tokyo. His research focus is the relationship among infrastructure, society, and public policy in general, comparing cases in both developing and developed countries.

Shunsaku Komatsuzaki

Shunsaku Komatsuzaki ([email protected]), Ph.D., is the Director of CGP (Center for Global Partnership) at the IDEC Institute, Hiroshima University. His research interests lie in healthcare and energy policies, particularly the societal aspect of radioactive waste management since 2008.