Masculinizing plant-based diets as an appeal for dietary change among men

Abstract

A significant body of research suggests that traditional masculine beliefs act as a barrier to reducing meat consumption and transitioning to a more ethical and sustainable food system. Here, we report a pre-registered experiment examining whether men who eat meat are more open to adopting plant-based diets when these diets are associated with traditional models of masculinity. A total of 1069 men who eat meat were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: a social media post with a plant-based meal featuring a male entrepreneur or a male bodybuilder (two experimental conditions), a social media post with a plant-based meal without a masculine model (social media post control condition), or a condition without any stimuli (no-information control condition). Both the entrepreneur and the bodybuilder were perceived as highly masculine, but these experimental conditions did not significantly affect participants’ perceived fit between plant-based eating and masculinity, nor did they affect tendencies to justify eating meat as necessary, attitudes toward plant-based diets, or willingness to adopt a plant-based diet. Nevertheless, the results supported previous research findings indicating that men who strongly identify as meat-eaters and those who consume more meat tend to perceive themselves as more masculine, feel more pressure from societal expectations to eat meat, justify meat-eating more strongly, view plant-based diets as less masculine, and are more negative about and less willing to adopt plant-based diets. Our findings raise questions about the “masculinization” of plant-based diets as a strategy for promoting dietary change among men.