Spontaneous verbal descriptions of vegans, non-vegan vegetarians, and omnivores and relationships between these descriptions and perceivers’ diets

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cris.lastimport.scopus2025-08-30T03:13:10Z
dc.abstract.enParticipants, 672 US collegians, listed four words/terms that first came to mind when thinking of vegans, non-vegan vegetarians, and omnivores. Participants generated 1264 unique descriptors, which two sets of raters, who were blind to the source of the descriptors, rated on 10 dimensions that included the valence of the descriptors (i.e., positive, negative). A series of multilevel models in which descriptors were nested within persons, found that descriptors referring to environmental issues and health were used more frequently when describing both vegans and vegetarians than when describing omnivores. Descriptors referring to deviance, lifestyle, and politics were used more frequently when describing both vegans and vegetarians than when describing omnivores. Overall, vegans were viewed more negatively than vegetarians who were viewed more negatively than omnivores. These differences were moderated by the extent to which participants restricted meat from their diet. Those who restricted meat from their diets to a greater extent had more negative perceptions and fewer positive perceptions of omnivores, whereas they had more positive perceptions of vegans and vegetarians, and fewer positive perceptions of omnivores. The present study is the first to use spontaneous verbal reports to examine attitudes and perceptions of people based on their eating habits. The results suggest that dietary habits can serve as a basis for social identity, which in turn affects perceptions of others.
dc.affiliationInstitute of Psychology
dc.affiliationInstytut Psychologii
dc.contributor.authorNezlek, John
dc.contributor.authorForestell, Catherine A.
dc.contributor.authorKrishnamurti, Harini
dc.contributor.editorJohannes Hönekopp
dc.date.access2023-12-19
dc.date.accessioned2023-12-19T13:54:19Z
dc.date.available2023-12-19T13:54:19Z
dc.date.created2023-10-20
dc.date.issued2023-12-07
dc.description.abstract<jats:p>Participants, 672 US collegians, listed four words/terms that first came to mind when thinking of vegans, non-vegan vegetarians, and omnivores. Participants generated 1264 unique descriptors, which two sets of raters, who were blind to the source of the descriptors, rated on 10 dimensions that included the valence of the descriptors (i.e., positive, negative). A series of multilevel models in which descriptors were nested within persons, found that descriptors referring to environmental issues and health were used more frequently when describing both vegans and vegetarians than when describing omnivores. Descriptors referring to deviance, lifestyle, and politics were used more frequently when describing both vegans and vegetarians than when describing omnivores. Overall, vegans were viewed more negatively than vegetarians who were viewed more negatively than omnivores. These differences were moderated by the extent to which participants restricted meat from their diet. Those who restricted meat from their diets to a greater extent had more negative perceptions and fewer positive perceptions of omnivores, whereas they had more positive perceptions of vegans and vegetarians, and fewer positive perceptions of omnivores. The present study is the first to use spontaneous verbal reports to examine attitudes and perceptions of people based on their eating habits. The results suggest that dietary habits can serve as a basis for social identity, which in turn affects perceptions of others.</jats:p>
dc.description.accesstimeat_publication
dc.description.issue12
dc.description.physical1-16
dc.description.versionfinal_published
dc.description.volume18
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0293899
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.urihttps://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/236
dc.languageen
dc.pbn.affiliationpsychologia
dc.rightsCC-BY
dc.rights.questionYes_rights
dc.share.articleOPEN_JOURNAL
dc.swps.sciencecloudsend
dc.titleSpontaneous verbal descriptions of vegans, non-vegan vegetarians, and omnivores and relationships between these descriptions and perceivers’ diets
dc.title.journalPLOS ONE
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typeArticle