Meat & Greet: How inter- and intragroup dyadic interactions influence perceptions of meat eaters and meat avoiders

Meat consumption is about more than nourishment. The choice to (not) eat meat often divides people into two groups, between which a social gap exists: meat eaters and meat avoiders. Based upon experimental findings in political environments, we explore whether inter- and intragroup (i.e., having different or same diets) dyadic conversations between male meat eaters and meat avoiders could influence attitudes between these groups. Since meat consumption is highly linked with masculinity, this research focuses on male participants only. An experiment was conducted with N = 148 participants, who were placed in dyadic groups for a conversation on meat consumption and avoidance. Participants' attitudes towards (the dietary choices of) the dietary in- and out-group, conversation quality and gender identity were measured before and after these conversations. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used to analyze the data. Our results show that initial attitudes of meat eaters and meat avoiders towards each other were not extreme: even though meat avoiders perceived their own group more positively compared to meat eaters, both groups did not hold overtly negative attitudes towards each other or each other's diets. The findings further indicated that meat eaters could benefit from having both intergroup and intragroup dyadic discussions on food choices, since their attitudes towards meat avoiders improved in both cases. However, these conversations did not help meat avoiders, as their attitudes towards meat eaters slightly deteriorated in the intragroup discussions. The findings of this study help to enhance our understanding of the social dynamics between meat eaters and meat avoiders, highlighting the potential of open and respectful communication between these two groups in mitigating environmental and health related challenges.