Wolstenholme Emily, Poortinga Wouter, Whitmarsh Lorraine
School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
Front Psychol. 2020 Oct 7;11:577111. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.577111. eCollection 2020.
There is a growing consensus that reducing excess meat consumption will be necessary to meet climate change targets, whilst also benefitting people's health. Strategies aimed at encouraging reduced meat consumption also have the potential to promote additional pro-environmental behaviors through behavioral spillover, which can be catalyzed through an increased pro-environmental identity. Based on this, the current study tested the effectiveness of a randomized two-week messaging intervention on reducing red and processed meat consumption and encouraging pro-environmental behavioral spillover. Participants were undergraduate students in the United Kingdom ( = 320 at baseline) randomly allocated to four conditions in which they received information about the health, environmental, or combined (health and environmental) impacts of meat consumption, and a no-message control. The results showed that receiving information on the health and/or environmental impacts of meat was effective in reducing red and processed meat consumption compared to the control group during the intervention period, with some effects remaining one-month later. However, the intervention did not have any effect on pro-environmental identity and there was little evidence of behavioral spillover. Implications for future research and interventions aimed at reducing meat consumption are discussed.
越来越多的人达成共识，即减少过量肉类消费对于实现气候变化目标是必要的，同时也有益于人们的健康。旨在鼓励减少肉类消费的策略也有可能通过行为溢出效应促进更多的环保行为，而这种效应可以通过增强环保身份认同来催化。基于此，本研究测试了一项为期两周的随机信息干预措施在减少红肉和加工肉类消费以及鼓励环保行为溢出方面的有效性。参与者是英国的本科生（基线时n = 320），他们被随机分配到四个组，分别接收关于肉类消费对健康、环境或综合（健康和环境）影响的信息，以及一个无信息对照组。结果表明，与对照组相比，在干预期间，接收关于肉类消费对健康和/或环境影响的信息能有效减少红肉和加工肉类的消费，且一些影响在一个月后仍然存在。然而，该干预对环保身份认同没有任何影响，也几乎没有行为溢出的证据。文中讨论了对未来旨在减少肉类消费的研究和干预措施的启示。
