“Meating halfway”: Exploring the attitudes of meat eaters, veg*ns, and occasional meat eaters toward those who eat meat and those who do not eat meat
Pabian,Sara Antwerp,University Antwerp,University Folkvord,Frans Poels,Karolien Vandebosch,Heidi De Backer,Charlotte J. S.
Pabian,Sara
Antwerp,University
Antwerp,University
Folkvord,Frans
Poels,Karolien
Vandebosch,Heidi
De Backer,Charlotte J. S.
Abstract
Empirical studies have persistently reported negative attitudes of meat eaters toward vegetarians and vegans (veg*ns), but scant attention has been paid to veg*ns’ attitudes toward meat eaters. We aimed to investigate the attitudes of meat eaters and veg*ns from both perspectives. In addition, we explored the attitudes of occasional meat eaters. We performed a cross-sectional study (Study 1) among meat eaters, veg*ns, and occasional meat eaters, as well as a content analysis of publicly available tweets (Study 2). Study 1 (N = 477, Mage = 23.45, SD = 5.91) showed that the attitudes of veg*ns toward meat eaters are significantly more negative compared to the attitudes of meat eaters toward veg*ns, but both were lower than the midpoint on scales measuring negative attitudes toward the other. Study 2 showed that only a small portion (<1%) of tweets (N = 1,328) on meat eating or veg*nism contained signs of negative attitudes. The two studies provide little evidence of the existence of strong negative attitudes.
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Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Taylor & Francis.
Date
2022-05-10
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Keywords
Meat eaters, Attitudes, In-group bias, Intergroup perception, Occasional meat eaters, Veg*ns
Citation
Pabian, S, Antwerp, U, Antwerp, U, Folkvord, F, Poels, K, Vandebosch, H & De Backer, C J S 2022, '“Meating halfway” : Exploring the attitudes of meat eaters, veg*ns, and occasional meat eaters toward those who eat meat and those who do not eat meat', Journal of Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2022.2074288