Mayrhofer Roland, Roberts Lara M, Hackl Julia M, Frischholz Katja
Department of Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Front Psychol. 2024 Apr 10;15:1163869. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1163869. eCollection 2024.
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.
An observational study was conducted via online questionnaire (1420 participants).
Significant differences were found between vegans, prospective vegans, and vegetarians, especially concerning their knowledge of issues pertaining to their respective lifestyles.
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.
尽管纯素食和素食饮食及生活方式彼此差异显著，尤其是在动物福利和生态影响方面各自的后果，但在心理学研究中，纯素食者和素食者常常被归为一类，并且通常与杂食者进行比较。鉴于纯素食者和素食者在生活方式选择上往往有相似的动机，即动物和环境问题，问题就出现了：为什么相似的动机却导致不同的结论以及相应不同的行为，最明显的当然是，素食者食用奶酪或牛奶等动物源性食品，而纯素食者不食用动物源性产品（如食品、化妆品）。这就是本研究探讨纯素食者、素食者和准纯素食者之间心理差异的原因——后者处于中间的过渡位置。研究聚焦于饮食转变的动机、情感和认知成分以及参与者对饮食模式的坚持、这些模式的原因、成为纯素食者可能的阻碍、参与者社会环境的作用，以及日常生活中关于纯素食饮食可行性的各种误解的影响。
通过在线问卷进行了一项观察性研究（1420名参与者）。
纯素食者、准纯素食者和素食者之间存在显著差异，尤其是在与各自生活方式相关问题的知识方面。
知识的关键作用被援引为对纯素食者和素食者尽管动机相似却表现出不同行为的一种解释。因此，本研究引入了纯素食素养的概念。此外，还探讨了奶酪的独特作用，讨论了其潜在成瘾性的可能迹象，以及因此奶酪作为追求纯素食饮食的阻碍因素的重要性。
