![]() These negative attitudes against vegans are stronger when vegans are thought to think of themselves as morally superior. Discrediting ethical vegans as do-gooders is then a way to invalidate the judgement of oneself. ![]() Īnother proposed reason is that meat eaters may feel judged by vegans and vegetarians for eating meat. Vegans can remind meat eaters of this cognitive dissonance, and one way to resolve this inner conflict and reduce dissonance is to maintain prejudice against vegans. One explanation for vegaphobia is founded on what is sometimes called the meat paradox: many people who eat meat do not like harming animals. A 2019 study found a positive correlation between world-views rooted in social dominance ("social dominance orientation") and a negative perception of vegans. A survey of about 1,000 participants showed that vegans are perceived as a threat mainly by older and less educated people, and by meat eaters who are particularly convinced of their habit. Thus, they can perceive those who advocate against meat consumption as a threat to their way of life. ![]() For right-wing adherents, eating meat is not only a delight, but also a part of their attitude towards life. Negative attitudes against vegans and vegetarians are most commonly found in people with conservative or right-wing beliefs, being often most pronounced in far-right groups. There are many theories to explain negative attitudes towards vegans. On social media, some vegans are also attacked for their choice to have only sexual relations with other vegans. In 2018, it was revealed that a British food editor had sent a vegan an email that mentioned "killing vegans one by one". The study found that of 397 articles, 20% were neutral, approximately 5% were positive and 75% were negative. The six most common vegaphobic statements found in these media were, in order of frequency: ridiculing veganism, erroneously equating veganism with asceticism, perpetuating the myth that veganism is difficult or impossible to sustain, describing veganism as a fashion trend, portraying vegans as sentimentalists, and defining vegans as hostile. Ī 2011 study found that British media discredit vegans through ridicule, and portray veganism as difficult or impossible to maintain. Attitudes of the media Īcademic Laura Wright stated in 2015 that media organizations and wider discourse routinely mischaracterize vegan diets, highlighting situations where media outlets reported the death of children as being from a "vegan diet" rather than the parental neglect that was the actual cause. The British chocolate company Cadbury in 2022 drew attention to thousands of "mean tweets" against vegan chocolate. There are also meat-eaters who do not transition to a vegan diet because they fear being stigmatized when becoming a vegan. In 2018, a survey of over 1,000 British and American vegans from the weight-loss application Lifesum found that 80% of respondents to have experienced some form of anti-vegan prejudice. These findings are consistent with vegans who feel discriminated against by people who eat meat. The study showed that this increased discomfort while eating meat and also led to a less negative judgement of vegans. Ī survey of 300 US residents observed meat eaters' reactions to being reminded that meat comes from animals. Īmong around a thousand Belgian Flemish meat eaters surveyed in 2016, vegaphobia against vegetarians was more common among men than among women, among older more than younger people, among people with a firmer intention to keep consuming meat, and among less educated people. Vegans are rated better if they're motivated by health reasons than if their veganism is driven by ethical or animal rights concerns. Vegans get more negative ratings than vegetarians, and vegan men receive more negative ratings than women. Manjoo cites findings from a 2015 study by Canadian psychologists, that the general population rates vegans more negatively than atheists and immigrants, and tolerates vegans only slightly better than drug addicts. "In the media, in pop culture and even in progressive, enlightened polite society it is still widely acceptable to make fun of vegans", writes Farhad Manjoo in a 2019 New York Times opinion piece against mocking vegans. Actor and producer Jola Cora also used the dual aversion concept but called it vegephobia (with an 'e'), in a 2013 conference talk titled "Vegephobia, what is it?" Attitudes in the general population A 2019 study of vegaphobia in this sense added the term vegaphobe for a person with vegaphobia. Subsequent studies defined vegaphobia as the dual aversion to vegans and vegetarians together. Later authors used the term veganphobia (vegan-) in this sense. Sociologists Matthew Cole and Karen Morgan used the term vegaphobia and the derived adjective vegaphobic in a 2011 study, meaning prejudice against vegans specifically.
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