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https://www.sciencealert.com/one-simple-trick-could-make-more-people-eat-vegan-food>
'Despite an avalanche of evidence pointing to the health and environmental
benefits of plant-based diets, researchers have uncovered an unexpected
obstacle preventing many of us from making any significant shift from meat and
animal products.
In an experiment involving more than 7,300 participants, people were far more
likely to choose the meat and dairy-free option if it wasn't referred to as
vegan.
'Plant-based' labels didn't fare much better. Food with this label was chosen
27 percent of the time, compared to the food labeled vegan being chosen only 20
percent of the time.
"This labeling effect was consistent across socio-demographics groups but was
stronger among self-proclaimed red-meat eaters," writes the team from the
University of Southern California.
Led by decision psychologist Patrycja Sleboda, the researchers presented study
participants with a choice between two gourmet food baskets; one with meat and
dairy and one without.
Unknown to them, the individuals had been randomly assigned into five
experimental conditions where the meat and dairy-free basket was labeled vegan,
plant-based, healthy, sustainable, or healthy and sustainable.
Regardless of the experimental conditions, the meat and dairy basket was chosen
most of the time. However, in the groups where the meat and dairy-free basket
had been labeled "healthy and sustainable", the vegan option was chosen a lot
more often (44 percent) than those actually labeled "vegan" (just 20 percent).
The study took place online, so it may only reflect online shopping choices,
but the results reflect the cultural resistance against veganism seen broadly
within the wider community. Anti-vegan groups have sprung up across the
internet and the bias against vegans is so strong only those stigmatized with
drug-use disorders elicit the same degree of negativity.
Yet at the same time, multiple studies suggest most regular consumers of meat
do actually support the health, environmental, and ethical principles behind
veganism. What's more, there's no denying the wealth of evidence pointing
towards clear health benefits including weight loss, reduced blood pressure,
lower diabetes risks, and heart problems across different ethnic groups.
Psychologists suspect these irrational contradictions are a consequence of
trying to placate our cognitive dissonance – when your beliefs don't align with
your actions. This specific form has been termed moral schizophrenia – such as
the conflict between eating meat and knowing that veganism is more sustainable.
So vegans make us uncomfortably aware of our own internal contradictions. For
this we resent them.'
Via Kenny Chaffin.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
