Psychological processes and influences on vegetarianism

Abstract

As people become more and more concerned with health, environmental protection and animal welfare, vegetarianism is emerging and has drawn increasing attention from psychologists. Psychological research on vegetarianism is still at an early stage. Psychological processes regarding vegetarianism involve cognitive, emotional, motivational aspects and vegetarian identity. Individual differences, stereotype, and macro factors also influence vegetarianism. Future research could further explore how socio-cultural factors influence vegetarian food choice, social representations about vegetarianism in China, the embodied cognition effect of vegetarian food, as well as the dynamic development of vegetarianism as a subculture. Implications can be drawn for developing effective interventions on healthy and pro-environmental dietary patterns.

Vegan tours in China: Motivation and benefits

“…The vegan tour was originally designed with a focus on food but some of the activities undertaken provided unexpected eudemonic benefits, in particular, mindfulness and self-reflection, consistent with the conceptualization of eudaimonia: personal meaning/growth and self-reflection (Lengieza, Hunt, & Swim, 2018). Eudaimonia is a type of pleasure derived from individual self-development, engagement, and selfrealization (Lengieza, Swim, & Hunt, 2019;Ryff & Singer, 2008), and has been noted in previous tourism studies (Waterman et al, 2003) especially for experiences involving immersion into the natural environment (Chen, Scott, & Benckendorff, 2017), and with opportunities for reflection (Schlegel, Hicks, Arndt, & King, 2009).…”

“…The emphasis on personal growth and mindfulness is also in accordance with Buddha's teaching that one should refrain from sensual pleasure (e.g., taste or smell) but pursuing origin and meaning of life (Levine, 2009;Ley, 2004), which is also highly regarded in Confucian and Taoist teachings in traditional Chinese culture. In addition, the need for introspection reflects that some Chinese tourists are not satisfied merely with pursuing hedonic benefits from a trip (Fu, Cai, & Lehto, 2015;Jiang, Scott, & Ding, 2014), but instead the quest for eudemonic self-development benefits (Lengieza et al, 2018(Lengieza et al, , 2019Ryan & Deci, 2001). This study is the first to note the introduction of eudemonic experiences (Nawijn, 2011) into a tour in China.…”

“…Meat traditionally plays an important role in Chinese people's daily dietary patterns, but vegetarianism has attracted public attention in recent years (Liu et al, 2019). Based on a case study approach, this paper investigated a new type of tour that has developed recently in China, vegan tours (VT).…”

“…As such, vegetarian diets in China have stricter criteria than the Western vegetarian standard, which does not eliminate alcohol and the five kinds of vegetables. Although vegetarianism is often associated with Buddhism in China, a vegetarian may not be Buddhist and Buddhists may not be vegetarian (Liu, Tian, & Zeng, 2019). In fact, many Buddhists in China are flexitarian on the first and 15th in the lunar calendar according to the Buddhist tradition, and ceremonial dates in Buddhism (Liu et al, 2019).…”