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Multi-Item Scale:

Would you agree or disagree if, as part of a climate-friendly energy policy in your area,...<br><i>[Würden Sie zustimmen oder nicht zustimmen, wenn im Zuge einer klimafreundlichen Energiepolitik in ihrer Umgebung...]</i>

Item Text:

c. ...a high-voltage power line with masts was to be built? [...eine Hochspannungsleitung mit Masten gebaut werden soll?]

Different Answer Format Tested:

Nein

Findings:

For item c, a negative attitude was justified by the fact that high-voltage lines with masts (especially during storms) posed a danger and were visually disturbing. Those who agreed with the item mainly justified this with the necessity of masts for the power supply or with the fact that they were the rule and people had already become accustomed to them:
  • "I think that doesn't look good, there are other options today. And for health it is not good to have them near you either." (TP410, response: strongly disagree)
  • "Because there are these in my environment and across fields. And when there are orcan winds blowing like right now, they fling around dangerously in the air. I'm not sure that these don't come down one time or even a mast falls down." (TP318, strongly disagree)
  • "In the area where I live, there are power lines with masts, so we're used to them and I wouldn't mind." (TP314, response: rather agree)
  • "Everyone needs electricity, so there needs to be power lines." (TP422, response: rather agree)
Sporadically (n = 4), the possibility of building high-voltage power lines with masts at the test persons' place of residence was doubted, since they lived in a large city or the inner city:
  • "Everything here is densely built-up, where should there be room for high-voltage lines?" (TP258, response: rather disagree).
  • "Doesn't happen downtown." (TP506, response: rather agree)
  • "The question is actually not relevant for me, because it is not feasible to lay a high-voltage line through a residential area. On the contrary, existing high-voltage lines are being deconstructed because of construction of apartments." (TP296, response: neither agree nor disagree)
  • "What nonsense. The space in residential areas does not even begin to allow high-voltage lines to be built there. Are residential buildings to be demolished for this?" (TP325, response: strongly disagree).
For item c, the responses of the subjects who selected the middle category also did not indicate comprehension problems, but rather corresponded to a neutral or ambivalent attitude:
  • "I remember that from my youth and didn't think it was dramatic." (TP390, response: neither agree nor disagree)
  • "Because I don't know enough about the advantages or disadvantages." (TP340, response: neither agree nor disagree)

Recommendations:

The results of the pretest do not indicate any problems with the item, so it can be left in its current form.

Question tested:

true