Rosenfeld Daniel L, Burrow Anthony L
Department of Human Development, Cornell University, United States.
Department of Human Development, Cornell University, United States.
Appetite. 2017 May 1;112:78-95. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2017.01.017. Epub 2017 Jan 18.
By departing from social norms regarding food behaviors, vegetarians acquire membership in a distinct social group and can develop a salient vegetarian identity. However, vegetarian identities are diverse, multidimensional, and unique to each individual. Much research has identified fundamental psychological aspects of vegetarianism, and an identity framework that unifies these findings into common constructs and conceptually defines variables is needed. Integrating psychological theories of identity with research on food choices and vegetarianism, this paper proposes a conceptual model for studying vegetarianism: The Unified Model of Vegetarian Identity (UMVI). The UMVI encompasses ten dimensions-organized into three levels (contextual, internalized, and externalized)-that capture the role of vegetarianism in an individual's self-concept. Contextual dimensions situate vegetarianism within contexts; internalized dimensions outline self-evaluations; and externalized dimensions describe enactments of identity through behavior. Together, these dimensions form a coherent vegetarian identity, characterizing one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding being vegetarian. By unifying dimensions that capture psychological constructs universally, the UMVI can prevent discrepancies in operationalization, capture the inherent diversity of vegetarian identities, and enable future research to generate greater insight into how people understand themselves and their food choices.
通过背离有关饮食行为的社会规范，素食者获得了一个独特社会群体的成员身份，并能形成显著的素食身份认同。然而，素食身份认同是多样的、多维度的，且因人而异。许多研究已经确定了素食主义的基本心理层面，因此需要一个身份认同框架，将这些发现统一到共同的结构中，并从概念上界定变量。本文将身份认同的心理学理论与食物选择和素食主义的研究相结合，提出了一个研究素食主义的概念模型：素食身份认同统一模型（UMVI）。UMVI包含十个维度，分为三个层次（情境、内化和外化），这些维度体现了素食主义在个体自我概念中的作用。情境维度将素食主义置于各种情境之中；内化维度概述自我评估；外化维度描述通过行为表现出的身份认同。这些维度共同构成了一个连贯的素食身份认同，刻画了一个人作为素食者的思想、情感和行为。通过统一普遍反映心理结构的维度，UMVI可以避免操作化过程中的差异，捕捉素食身份认同的内在多样性，并使未来的研究能够更深入地洞察人们如何理解自己以及他们的食物选择。
