Effect of Anthropomorphizing Food Animals on Intentions to Eat Meat

Awareness that others have human qualities (humanizing) generally results in a more favorable treatment of those others. Recent research has found that nonhuman entities (e.g., animals, the planet) also benefit when people view them as having human qualities (anthropomorphizing). Do those benefits of humanizing also extend to the animals we consume? Two studies were conducted to address that question. In both studies, participants were given a short writing task designed to elicit an anthropomorphized view of the target followed by measures of their diet plans and decisions regarding dilemmas that pitted human interests against animal and environmental interests. In study 1 (n = 58) the target animal was a cow and in study 2 (n = 146) the target animals were a cow and a pig. The key finding, consistent across both studies, was that gender moderated the effect of the anthropomorphism manipulation. Females expressed less interest in eating beef (Study 1) and more willingness to try a meat-free diet (Study 2) after anthropomorphizing the food animals compared with the control condition. In contrast, males expressed more interest in eating beef and less willingness to try a meat-free diet after anthropomorphizing food animals. The gender differences can be understood as resulting from differences in the way men and women view animals and meat consumption. The pattern found with meat-eating plans did not extend to decisions on the animal-related dilemmas. Thus, anthropomorphizing food animals is not uniformly beneficial or harmful to the animals, but depends on the gender of those asked to humanize.

Automated summary

The act of humanizing others can lead to more favorable treatment, and this extends to nonhuman entities like animals and the planet. However, gender plays a significant role in moderating the effects of anthropomorphism manipulation, with females showing less interest in eating meat after humanizing food animals compared to males.