No abstract

Stereotypes about vegetarians and vegans influence behavior toward these groups, as well as decisions about consumption of animal products in general, affecting the health and wellbeing of humans and other animals, as well as the environment. We extend the existing research with a study of stereotypes in a non-WEIRD meat-eating culture based on content analysis of open-ended responses (Study 1) and ratings on the competence and warmth dimensions (Study 2). We also sought to predict the positivity of stereotypes by the general attitude to animals, perception of vegetarianism as a threat to local traditions, and the anticipated moral reproach of vegetarians toward meat-eaters. We found that stereotypes about vegetarians are ambivalent, while stereotypes about vegans are more clearly negative, both to a greater extent among meat-eaters compared with vegetarians/vegans and among men compared with women. The open-ended responses were most frequently related to health, both good and poor health, and secondly to moral values, empathy, and commitment as well as unfavorable social traits. References to masculinity/femininity were not prominent in the spontaneous responses and neither was the general domain of competence, although both groups are ascribed relatively high competence when explicitly asked. While meat-eaters mostly relate vegetarianism and veganism to health, those who themselves are vegetarian or vegan most readily relate these choices to empathy and moral values, as well as free-mindedness. Perceptions of vegetarianism as a threat, as well as one’s general level of speciesism predicted stereotype positivity. We discuss how future cross-cultural research can benefit from the categories of traits we derived from the open-ended analysis and the implications of the findings for shaping public communications.

Have any data been collected for this study already?No, no data have been collected for this study yet.2) What's the main question being asked or hypothesis being tested in this study?We are expecting that we will be able to produce more positive attitudes towards the vegetarians by emphasizing similarities between religious fasting and vegetarianism. In this way participants will be able to observe vegetarians as members of our culture and tradition.

IntroductionConsumption of animals entails disregarding the pain of sentient beings, and acknowledging this can threaten an individual’s image of oneself as a moral person. Also, abstaining from meat in a meat-eating culture can threaten an individual’s valued group identity. Previous research on inter-group relations suggests that self-affirmation, affirmation of personally or collectively important values, can help individuals alleviate self-threats since it enhances one’s global self-image and decreases threat perceptions.MethodsWe tested for potential effects of self-affirmation on openness toward reducing meat consumption in an experimental study. Participants (N = 277) were randomized into an individual affirmation, group affirmation, or a control condition. Individual affirmation participants ranked a list of values and then wrote a short paragraph about their first-ranked value. Group affirmation participants did a similar task, focusing on the values of their ethnic group, while participants in the control condition had an unrelated task of ranking their color preferences. Participants then read a persuasive message presenting health risks related to meat consumption and the health benefits of reducing meat. Finally, they indicated their openness toward reducing meat consumption and acceptability of plant-based alternatives and lab-grown meat.Results and DiscussionResults show that affirmed participants expressed more readiness to reconsider their meat consumption habits, reduced perceptions of vegetarianism as a threat to the local culture, and more positive perceptions of the idea of lab-grown meat. However, self-esteem and frequency of meat consumption pose important limitations to the experimental effects. We discuss the findings from the perspective of self-and collective identity threats and the potential of self-affirmations to create a more open debate about animal product consumption.