Differences Between Health And Ethical Vegetarians

The ways in which health and ethical vegans/vegetarians are dissimilar is explored in this piece of research. The authors used an online survey to determine how those in each category differed based on conviction, dietary restriction, duration of adherence, and knowledge of nutrition. Results showed that while the level of nutritional knowledge was no different, ethical vegans/vegetarians had stronger feelings of conviction, consumed fewer animal products, and had been following the diet for a greater length of time than those who were motivated by health.

“Little research has been published concerning the differences between health oriented and ethically oriented vegetarians. The present study compared differences in conviction, nutrition knowledge, dietary restriction, and duration of adherence to vegetarianism between the two groups. Subjects completed an online survey and were grouped by original reason for becoming vegetarian (n = 292, 58 health, 234 ethical), and current reason for remaining vegetarian (n = 281, 49 health, 232 ethical). Whether grouped by current or original motivation, ethical vegetarians scored higher on the conviction instrument than health vegetarians and exhibited somewhat greater dietary restriction (significant when grouped by current motivation) and had been vegetarian for longer (significant when grouped by original motivation). Nutrition knowledge did not differ between the two groups. The results suggest that ethical vegetarians could experience stronger feelings of conviction and consume fewer animal products than health vegetarians, and may remain vegetarian longer. More research is necessary to understand how vegetarians’ eating behaviors are influenced by their motivational profiles.”