Neue Forschungsergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Zunahme des Vegetarismus in den letzten 15 Jahren hauptsächlich auf Frauen beschränkt war, während bei Männern kaum Veränderungen beobachtet wurden. Frauen nannten eher ethische Bedenken wie Tierrechte, während Männer Umweltbelange als Hauptmotivation anführten.
Women drive the rise in vegetarianism over time, according to new study
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I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-024-01504-y
From the linked article:
New research published in Sex Roles suggests that increases in vegetarianism over the past 15 years are primarily limited to women, with little change observed among men.
The results of the first study revealed that over the 15-year period, the percentage of women identifying as vegetarian increased significantly, while the percentage of men remained relatively stable. Among women, the proportion of those who followed a vegetarian diet (excluding pescatarians) rose from 4.3% in 2008 to 8.7% in 2023. Including pescatarians, this percentage was even higher, reaching 12.2% by 2023.
In contrast, men showed no significant increase in vegetarianism over time, with only 2.7% identifying as vegetarian in 2023, compared to 3.2% in 2008. These findings highlight a growing gender gap, where women are increasingly adopting plant-based diets, while men’s dietary habits have remained relatively unchanged.
The second revealed that women were significantly more likely than men to cite ethical concerns, such as animal rights, as their primary reason for adopting a vegetarian diet. Men, on the other hand, were more likely to prioritize environmental concerns as their main motivation. Health concerns were frequently mentioned by both genders, though no significant gender difference was observed in this regard.
Are environmental concerns not ‘ethical’?
Any research on the health impacts and differences between men and women?
As a vegetarian man: climate change and sustainability is my primary reason
This holds true for basically every social trend. Women change, and men haven’t since the 90s.
As a man who is vegan, I’m disappointed, but not surprised, to see that veganism (and vegetarianism) has not increased in men despite an increase overall.
There’s a fairly established [connection between the socialization of men and women around food](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214799320300448), where women are expected to eat leaner meals and men are expected eat red meat and potatoes. Women also are generally more [considerate about food choices](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195666308000494) than men (e.g., reading food labels), so they may think more about what they are eating and the ethics behind those foods than men.