Today we would like to continue our in depth analysis regarding our study on Vegetariansm & Veganism in Romania. If you would like to discover the study as it is, make sure to follow this link.
This time we'll mainly focus on the attitudes of Non-Vegetarians or Non-Vegans towards the ones that chose a different lifestyle, on their interactions and on the variety of reasons for which people tend to give up on consuming meat or other products from the same category.
Vegetarians & Vegans related attitudies 1/2
There is a general agreement Vegetarians & Vegans are trying to „convert” others, but seemingly in a gentle manner – all parts agree their lifestyle is not bothersome for rest of the people. However, there are some potential tension sources - Vegetarians & Vegans also feel to a higher degree that Non-Vegetarians believe they consider themselves better than others because of the implicit moral superiority of reduced meat consumption.
We also notice a potential barrier for Non-Vegetarians – the belief that, relatively speaking, is hard to have a nutritious Vegetarian or Vegan diet.
Vegetarians & Vegans related attitudies 2/2
We have the most likely cause of the self-righteousness perception differences - Vegetarians & Vegans see themselves as more altruistic than they are perceived by the Non-Vegetarians, more concerned about animal, planet and humankind welfare.
These factors are driving the moral superiority position of reduced meat consumption, position which can fuel conflicts with inveterate meat eaters; fortunately that’s not the case in Romania, at least not yet.
Interactions
It’s clear that Vegetarians & Vegans are more sensible about interactions related to their lifestyle.
On the other hand, like in most majority – minority interactions, is not surprising that Non-Vegetarians are not paying too much attention to this subject and see it as more benign.
Reasons for choosing this kind of lifestyle
Non-Vegetarians have guessed the top reason for Vegetarians & Vegans to reduce or give up meat and animal-related food consumption, but they usually overestimate the reasons’ importance, excepting Environmental protection / saving the planet reason.
Anyway, health is clearly the main reason triggering such a change in diet & lifestyle, followed by 2 altruistic reasons (environmental protection & animal rights).
Predictions
No matter what, it's clear Vegetarians & Vegans are here to stay and not just that – everybody agrees on this. Naturally, Vegetarians & Vegans are more optimistic about their ranks growth.
We hope you enjoyed reading this article and that our study has sparked your interest! We encourage you to stay tuned to our blog, as well as our website, for the latest news and for the best insights!
Thank you!