Development and validation of the motivations to Eat Meat Inventory

Previous research suggests that there are four primary motives to eat meat: that it is natural, normal, necessary, or nice. However, these motives have not yet been distinguished empirically; the lack of a measurement tool that can distinguish these motives has contributed to a literature that focuses primarily on meat-eating motivation or justification in general, as opposed to differences between these motives. We developed a 19-item measure, the Motivations to Eat Meat Inventory (MEMI), that fit a four-factor model in three samples (total N = 2175), including one with a large number of vegetarians. Using this instrument, we generated psychological profiles associated with each motive, and showed that the structure and correlates of meat-eating motives is highly similar for omnivores and vegetarians. This research provides a valuable tool for studying variation in psychological motives for eating meat among both meat-eaters and vegetarians and provides an initial framework for understanding the underpinnings of these different motivations.