Are climate change perceptions related with plastic policy support? Effects of climate change skepticism, guilt, and efficacy on the acceptance of the plastic tax

PLOS One | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0337327 December 29, 2025 7 / 30 In this study, we assume that the lower the level of materialism, the higher the level of support for the plastic tax, which implies an increased awareness of the fragility of nature and can be viewed as a corresponding behavioral intention to protect the environment. Hypothesis 4. The lower the materialism, the higher acceptance of the plastic tax. Risk perception paradigm Perceived risk. Perceived risk, one of the most powerful variables in terms of acceptability in risk research, refers to the subjective evaluation and perception of risk. According to Slovic et al. [71], perceived risk reflects various social and psychological factors such as uncertainty and controllability of risk, and focuses on how risk is perceived. In particular, compared with perceived benefits, perceived risk plays an opposing role in acceptability. Visschers et al. [72] found that perceived benefits and perceived risks were opposite and significant for acceptance. For renewable energy, similar to nuclear energy, perceived benefits have a positive effect on the support for renewable energy, while perceived risks have a negative effect [73]. Kim et al. [74] found that the higher the perceived risk of climate change and perceived benefits of climate change mitigation, the higher the intensity of climate change awareness and response behavior. As this study aims to identify the factors determining the support for taxes to address climate change, it is assumed that a higher

perceived risk will lead to a higher support for payment. Hypothesis 5. Acceptance of the plastic tax increases with an increase in the perceived risk of climate change. Knowledge. Studies related to nuclear power acceptance and knowledge have shown that knowledge variables are useful in explaining acceptance [75]. Knowledge is an important factor that relates to acceptance of renewable energy and energy preference structure. Park et al. [73] found that knowledge influenced renewable energy acceptance through risk perception, and Langer [76] found that knowledge was a determinant of wind energy acceptance. O’Connor et al. [49] highlighted that more knowledge is associated with a higher intention to take voluntary action in response to climate change. Kim et al. [74] confirmed that knowledge affected the intention to act on climate change. Recent research demonstrates that knowledge functions as a necessary but not sufficient condition within broader psychological processes [23]. As Kollmuss et al. [77] explain, knowledge contributes to pro-environmental behavior when mediated by personal values and situational constraints. Additionally, Gifford et al. [78] found that knowledge influences attitudes toward climate policies when combined with efficacy beliefs. Our findings support this integrated perspective rather than the simplistic knowledge-behavior model. In our case, ‘knowledge of climate change’ is defined as objective and subjective understanding of climate science

and related policies, measured through self-reported familiarity with climate change issues and government policies. This construct differs from acceptance of climate risk, which reflects the perceived severity and vulnerability associated with climate threats. As demonstrated by van der Linden [19], knowledge and risk perception represent distinct psychological constructs that influence climate policy support through different pathways. Knowledge primarily operates through cogni- tive processes, while risk acceptance involves affective judgments of potential harm. In line with the previous studies, we believe that knowledge of climate change will have a significant effect on risk per- ception and the acceptance of the plastic tax. Thus, the following hypothesis is proposed. Hypothesis 6. The higher the knowledge of climate change, the higher acceptance of the plastic tax. Trust. Trust is a representative socio-cultural factor in risk research, and it plays an important role in improving individuals’ risk perception, safety, and risk response effectiveness [79]. In risk research studies, trust can be defined as the level of confidence individuals have in organizations that provide information about risks and directly or indirectly