Feeling morally troubled about meat, dairy, egg, and fish consumption: Dissonance reduction strategies among different dietary groups

Untangling the dairy paradox: How vegetarians experience and navigate the cognitive dissonance aroused by their dairy consumption

Most people eat meat, yet report valuing the environment, animal life, and their health, which contradicts this dietary behaviour. The psychological discomfort aroused by this value-behaviour inconsistency, and the strategies meat eaters use to resolve this unpleasant state, is termed the 'meat paradox'. Vegetarians eschew meat consumption, but the negative implications of dairy are comparable to meat. We investigated the 'dairy paradox' in a sample of vegetarians (N = 378) using an experimental design. Specifically, we tested whether vegetarians experienced cognitive dissonance after reading about the environmental, animal welfare, and health impacts of dairy consumption when compared to a control group not exposed to this information. Then, we examined to what extent perceiving dairy consumption as Natural, Necessary, Normal, Nice, or Neglectable, and denial of cows' mental states (Experience or Agency) predicted reduced cognitive dissonance. Vegetarians in the dissonance-induction condition reported experiencing significantly greater dissonance, though they more strongly rejected the justification strategies. Instead, they reported greater intentions to reduce their dairy consumption than vegetarians in the control condition. Rather than replicating findings from the meat paradox literature, these results suggest that vegetarians respond to uncomfortable feelings about their value-behaviour conflict with a greater intention to abandon the incongruent behaviour, rather than endorsing the cognitions that justify it. This research provides evidence that vegetarians experience a dairy paradox. Given the success of our study in shifting participants away from behavioural justification and toward behavioural change intentions, our findings can help guide the design of interventions seeking to reduce dairy consumption.

Psychological differences and similarities between vegans, prospective vegans, and vegetarians. Motivation, knowledge, vegan literacy - and cheese

Introduction

Although vegan and vegetarian diets and lifestyles differ significantly from each other, among other things, notably in their respective consequences regarding animal welfare and their ecological impact, vegans and vegetarians are often grouped together and usually compared to omnivores in psychological research. Considering that vegans and vegetarians often share similar motives for their lifestyle choices, namely animal and environmental issues, the question arises why similar motives lead to different conclusions and correspondingly different behaviors, most notably, of course, that vegetarians consume animal-derived foods such as cheese or milk while vegans do not consume animal-derived products (e.g., food, cosmetic products). This is why this study explored the psychological differences between vegans, vegetarians, and prospective vegans - the latter group being located in an intermediate, transitionary position. Focusing on the motivational, affective and cognitive components of dietary transition and participants' adherence to eating patterns, reasons for said patterns, possible hinderances to becoming vegan, the role of participants' social environments, and the impact of various misconceptions regarding the feasibility of a vegan diet in everyday life were all explored.

Methods

An observational study was conducted via online questionnaire (1420 participants).

Results

Significant differences were found between vegans, prospective vegans, and vegetarians, especially concerning their knowledge of issues pertaining to their respective lifestyles.

Discussion

The critical role of knowledge is invoked as an explanation as to why vegans and vegetarians display different behaviors although they share a similar motivation. Thus, in this study the concept of vegan literacy is introduced. Additionally, the distinctive role of cheese is explored, discussing possible indications of its potentially addictive nature and, consequently, the importance of cheese as a hindering factor for pursuing a vegan diet.