Food And Attitude: Are Vegetarians The Better People?

Vegetarians and vegans have fewer prejudices. They also prefer to be treated as equals, while among meat eaters, a larger proportion tend to favor authority and hierarchical structures.

This is the result of a survey by the University of Mainz among almost 1,400 people. The differences can be found across all age groups, but are more pronounced in men than in women. 

Cause, Effect And Wild Speculation

Before jumping to conclusions about the effect of meat on character, the question of cause and effect deserves a little attention. Does the plant-based diet make someone open-minded, open-minded and non-judgmental? It is more likely that conservative people tend to eat more traditionally, i.e. containing meat.

The cliché of the German regulars' table philosopher, who believes that all problems will be solved when someone finally bangs on the table and throws all the foreigners out, simply doesn't fit a vegetarian stir-fry. An open-minded person, on the other hand, is more likely to deal with other ways of life and then possibly decide to change if they think it makes sense.

The Exact Numbers: The Devil Is In The Details 

On closer inspection, the differences revealed by the survey are not that great: 2.5% of all omnivorous men stated in the questionnaire that they tend to be prejudiced. Among vegetarians it was 2.3% and among vegans 2.1%. For women, the figures were 2.2%, 2.1% and 2.1%, respectively.

The figures for the approval of authority and social dominance are very similar. Overall, among the 1,381 people surveyed, meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans were almost equally represented. A difference of 0.1% from one group to another corresponds roughly to a single person.