Health and Life Sciences, School of Applied Social Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester, LE1 9BH, UK.
Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZA, UK.
Appetite. 2021 Dec 1;167:105615. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2021.105615. Epub 2021 Jul 28.
Perceived social norms refer to beliefs that people hold about what other people do (descriptive norms) and approve of (injunctive norms), and are associated with food intake. However, less is known about whether perceived social norms are associated with meat and plant-based meal intake. Using a cross-sectional survey design 136 participants (aged 19-66 years, mean age = 39.63, SD = 12.85 years, mean BMI = 25.77, SD = 5.30, 80.9 % female, 77.9 % omnivores, 22.1 % flexitarians) answered questions about how frequently they consumed meat and plant-based meals, and how frequently they perceived people in their social environment to consume (perceived descriptive norms), and approve of consuming (perceived injunctive norms) meat and plant-based meals. Perceived descriptive and injunctive norms were positively associated with participants' frequency of meat intake: participants ate meat more frequently when they perceived their significant other to frequently eat meat (descriptive norm), and when they perceived their significant other and friends to approve of (injunctive norm) frequently eating meat. Perceived descriptive norms were positively associated, but injunctive norms were negatively associated with participants' frequency of plant-based meal intake: participants ate plant-based meals more frequently when they perceived their extended family, friends, and significant other to frequently eat plant-based meals. However, participants ate plant-based meals more frequently when they perceived their extended family to approve of less frequent plant-based meal intake. These results suggest that different social groups may be important for meat and plant-based meal intake, with significant others and friends appearing to be important reference points for both food types. Further research examining the contexts in which the different social groups influence eating behaviour would be of value.
感知到的社会规范是指人们对他人行为（描述性规范）和认可（指令性规范）的信念，与食物摄入有关。然而，对于感知到的社会规范是否与肉类和植物性膳食摄入有关，了解较少。本研究使用横断面调查设计，共纳入 136 名参与者（年龄 19-66 岁，平均年龄 39.63±12.85 岁，平均 BMI 25.77±5.30，80.9%为女性，77.9%为杂食者，22.1%为弹性素食者），回答了关于他们食用肉类和植物性膳食的频率，以及他们感知到社交环境中的人食用（感知到的描述性规范）和认可食用（感知到的指令性规范）肉类和植物性膳食的频率。感知到的描述性和指令性规范与参与者的肉类摄入频率呈正相关：参与者感知到重要他人经常食用肉类（描述性规范），以及感知到重要他人和朋友认可经常食用肉类（指令性规范）时，他们食用肉类的频率更高。感知到的描述性规范呈正相关，但指令性规范与参与者的植物性膳食摄入频率呈负相关：参与者感知到大家庭、朋友和重要他人经常食用植物性膳食时，他们食用植物性膳食的频率更高。然而，当参与者感知到大家庭不太赞成经常食用植物性膳食时，他们反而会更频繁地食用植物性膳食。这些结果表明，不同的社会群体可能对肉类和植物性膳食的摄入很重要，重要他人和朋友似乎是这两种食物的重要参照点。进一步研究不同社会群体在哪些情境下影响饮食行为将具有重要意义。
