The Plight of Plant Pioneers

Written by Scarlett Neary

With Veganuary's rising popularity, converting 350,000 UK residents in 2020, including the likes of Brian May and Paul McCartney, let us spare them a thought as they endure the typical ridicule and ‘rabbit' jokes. They’re joining a whopping 3.5 million other people who know all too well the mocking, and sometimes hostility, identifying as ‘Vegan’ can provoke. Whether they do it for health reasons, ethical reasons, or environmental reasons, more and more people are choosing the vegan lifestyle, so perhaps it’s time the world reconsidered their view of this increasingly implacable group.

Prolific vegan, Joaquin Phoenix

Consider your own preconceived ideas about vegans, what does the stereotypical vegan look like to you? Are they a hippy? Do they mention that they’re vegan every time they open their mouths? Are they legalistic and extreme in their beliefs? Also, consider how you felt when you realised this blog was about veganism (assuming that after the realisation you continued to read), what feelings does the word itself evoke in you?

In 2015, a study conducted by Cara MacInnis and Gordon Hodson set out to see if bias towards vegans does indeed exist, and well… I think you can guess what’s coming. It turns out people hate vegans. “So what?” you might be thinking, but these results have serious implications. In a world where a growing body of evidence suggests that meat and dairy is unhealthy, and where animal agriculture is the biggest creator of greenhouse gas emissions, why does the movement trying to tackle these issues face such resistance? Well that’s a question for another time, MacInnis and Hodson only explored if bias does exist, not the reason for it.

The Study

The study involved 280 participants, all Amazon Mechanical Turk workers living in the USA, consisting of 143 women and 137 men. They completed a 10-minute survey based on the stereotype content model (Fiske et al., 2002). The model says we form opinions of people based on two main dimensions: warmth and competence. It makes the following assumptions: people or groups perceived as low in warmth and low in competence are targets of disgust, anger, resentment, and contempt; people or groups perceived as low in warmth but high in competence are targets of jealousy and envy; people or groups perceived as high in warmth but low in competence are targets of sympathy and pity; and finally, people or groups perceived as high in warmth and high in competence are admired. Participants rated both vegetarians and vegans on competence using a 5-item scale, and warmth using a 4-item scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely). The ‘4-item’ and ‘5-item’ scales refer to the number of statements the participants had to rate. Eight statements from Dhont and Hodson’s Vegetarianism Threat Scale (e.g., “The rise of vegetarianism poses a threat to our country’s cultural customs”) were used but were adapted to evaluate perceived threat from both vegetarianism and veganism, they added one additional statement, “Vegetarians/vegans think they are better than meat eaters”. Participants were asked to rate these statements on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).

 

Stereotype Content Model - Fiske et al. (2002) 

The Results

This is what they discovered: The warmth and competence section of the survey revealed that both vegetarians and vegans were perceived to be lower in warmth than competence, relative to other nonconforming nutritional groups (e.g., gluten intolerants), as well as other groups challenging the status quo (e.g., feminists). Vegetarians were viewed as warmer and more competent than vegans which, curiously, suggests vegans belong to a group that is perceived to be of high status, more fortunate than others, and hostile in intent. This is consistent with the common (mis)conception that vegetarians/vegans believe that they are better than everyone else. The section of the survey that asked participants to rate statements on a scale from 1 to 7 revealed that vegetarians and vegans were judged equivalently to those who follow a gluten-free diet by choice, and feminists. Evaluations of vegetarians and vegans differ, however, based on the individual’s motivation behind their vegetarianism/veganism, with animal rights motivations evaluated most negatively.

What now?

Does more research need to be done? Absolutely. It’s important to remember that this study was done on just 280 participants, so take what you’ve just read with a pinch of salt. A much larger and more diverse sample would be needed if we were to even consider generalising the results to the world. But hopefully this study has softened your view of the gentlest food-group, allowing us to respect the lifestyle choices of others without judgement.

References

Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 878–902.

https://uk.veganuary.com/

MacInnis, C. C., & Hodson, G. (2017). It ain’t easy eating greens: Evidence of bias toward vegetarians and vegans from both source and target. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 20(6), 721-744.

Dhont, K., & Hodson, G. (2014). Why do right-wing adherents engage in more animal exploitation and meat consumption? Personality and Individual Differences, 64, 12-17.