The Psychology of Eating Animals

@article{Loughnan2014ThePO,
  title={The Psychology of Eating Animals},
  author={Steve Loughnan and Brock Bastian and Nick Haslam},
  journal={Current Directions in Psychological Science},
  year={2014},
  volume={23},
  pages={104 - 108}
}
Most people both eat animals and care about animals. Research has begun to examine the psychological processes that allow people to negotiate this “meat paradox.” To understand the psychology of eating animals, we examine characteristics of the eaters (people), the eaten (animals), and the eating (the behavior). People who value masculinity, enjoy meat and do not see it as a moral issue, and find dominance and inequality acceptable are most likely to consume animals. Perceiving animals as… 

Age‐related differences in reasoning about the acceptability of eating animals

Children in the western world often are socialized as meat-eaters, while caring much about animals. Yet we know little about how children think about eating animals and animal products, which will

Rationalizing meat consumption. The 4Ns

Effect of Anthropomorphizing Food Animals on Intentions to Eat Meat

Gender moderated the effect of the anthropomorphism manipulation, indicating that anthropomorphizing food animals is not uniformly beneficial or harmful to the animals, but depends on the gender of those asked to humanize.

When Meat Gets Personal, Animals’ Minds Matter Less

Why are many Westerners outraged by dog meat, but comfortable with pork? This is particularly puzzling, given strong evidence that both species are highly intelligent. We suggest that although people

Consumer Moral Dilemma in the Choice of Animal-Friendly Meat Products

More and more consumers, at least in Western developed countries, are attentive to the sustainability aspects of their food, one of which concerns animal welfare. The conflict of harming an animal
...

Psychological Mechanisms in the Human Use of Animals

American society uses millions of animals each day for food, recreation, and a variety of other purposes, yet psychologists—in contrast to other social scientists—have devoted very little attention

Real men don’t eat (vegetable) quiche: Masculinity and the justification of meat consumption.

As arguments become more pronounced that meat consumption harms the environment, public health, and animals, meat eaters should experience increased pressure to justify their behavior. Results of a

Don’t Mind Meat? The Denial of Mind to Animals Used for Human Consumption

The role of dissonance reduction in facilitating the practice of meat eating and protecting cultural commitments is highlighted, showing that expectations regarding the immediate consumption of meat increase mind denial and reduces negative affect associated with dissonance.

Meat, morals, and masculinity

Too close to home. Factors predicting meat avoidance

Benefits and barriers to the consumption of a vegetarian diet in Australia

An understanding of the perceived benefits and barriers of consuming a vegetarian diet will allow the implementation of strategies to influence meat and vegetarianism beliefs, dietary behaviour and, hence, public health.

Moralization and Becoming a Vegetarian: The Transformation of Preferences Into Values and the Recruitment of Disgust

We describe a rather common process that we call moralization, in which objects or activities that were previously morally neutral acquire a moral component. Moralization converts preferences into