Vegans And Vegetarians Aren't Who You Thought

According to a new study, however, we might have all that kind of backwards – or at least sideways. Non-vegetarians, it seems, may well be kinder and more “normal” than vegans and vegetarians – but their meat-eschewing peers are pretty far from the two extremes they’ve been assigned. Rather, they’re independent thinkers, valuing personal choice and possessing more grit than those who eat animals.

We know what you’re saying: where’s the evidence? Well, sorry to disappoint you, comment section: this is the result of not one, not two, but three studies, across two countries and a sample size of more than 3,700 people. Roughly one in four of those surveyed were vegan or vegetarian; one study, comprising roughly one-third of the sample, was from the US, while the other two were from Poland.

The results: “Across all three studies, Benevolence, Security, and Conformity values were significantly less important for vegetarians than they were for non-vegetarians,” writes John Nezlek, Professor Emeritus of the College of William & Mary’s department of Psychological Sciences and sole author of the paper. 

“Across all three studies, vegetarians also endorsed Tradition values less strongly than non-vegetarians, although this difference was not statistically significant in the US study,” the paper continues; “Across all three studies, vegetarians endorsed Stimulation, Achievement, and Power values more strongly than non-vegetarians did […] These results suggest that following a vegetarian diet represents a manifestation of values that emphasize independence and individuality, a possibility that is somewhat at odds with how vegetarianism is often discussed.”

As Nezlek suggests, the results may sound unexpected – but they also kind of make sense. In most countries, being vegetarian or vegan is an active choice, and not necessarily an easy one: it puts you at odds with mainstream society, and it requires pretty constant vigilance to maintain. As such, “vegetarians can be seen by members of the omnivorous majority as individuals who have explicitly rejected the majority diet and the values for which it stands,” Nezlek explains, and who, “in extremis, […] pose a threat to society and its way of life.”

It takes a lot of self-confidence and commitment to stick to your guns in the face of such rejection and criticism – and the personality traits emphasized by vegans and vegetarians reflect precisely that. “Vegetarians view their diets as a more important part of their sense of self than omnivores do,” Nezlek points out. “Adopting a vegetarian diet is characterized by a strong commitment and a relative de-emphasis on conforming to existing norms.”

While these results are no doubt intriguing, Nezlek points to the underlying why as more important. “Why does holding Traditional and Benevolence values reduce the likelihood someone will be a vegetarian?” he asks. “Why does endorsing Power values make it more likely someone will be a vegetarian?” 

“Although Schwartz’s model suggests that values are causes of behaviors such as dietary habit, is this necessarily the case? Perhaps people adopt vegetarian diets and then their values change,” he suggests.

There are also questions of how generalizable these results are across different cultures. Not all values were equally higher or lower for Polish and US vegetarians, and “it is not certain how the present results might generalize to other cultural groups, e.g., South or Latin America or Asia,” Nezlek cautions. Similarly, how the results might be stratified by more specific dietary preferences – where do pescatarians fit in, for example, or those who eschew red meat but not white – is equally up for investigation.

Overall, though, it seems one thing is clear: vegetarians and vegans have been given a bad rap. Or, depending on how you look at it, a good one.

“Although vegetarians may be more sensitive to the pain and suffering of animals and may be more aware of threats to the environment than non-vegetarians, this sensitivity and awareness do not reflect basic human value of benevolence, at least as defined by Schwartz and colleagues,” Nezlek writes. “Moreover, the present results suggest that vegetarians hold values consistent with being members of a social minority who are willing to stand by their principles.”

“Although the present studies leave important questions unanswered, they [suggest] a path forward,” he concludes.

The paper is published in the journal PLOS One.