Motivated Moral Outrage Among Meat-Eaters

Annika Yeske / ayeske@bellarmine.edu / Hank Rothgerber

Many meat-eaters experience negative arousal from recognizing that their eating behaviors contradict their moral values, such as desires to protect the environment or animals from harm. The present research tested whether expressing moral outrage at third-party transgressors reduces meat-related dissonance and preserves moral identity. When participants considered their responsibility for factory farming’s negative impact (Study 1: N = 399) or read about factory farming’s animal harms
(Study 3: N = 800), expressing moral outrage reduced their feelings of guilt and elevated self-rated moral character. Reflecting on the morally troublesome nature of their eating behavior led meat-eaters to express more moral outrage at a third-party responsible for animal abuse, an effect eliminated by self-affirmation (Study 2: N = 302). These findings substantiate moral outrage as a new mechanism to justify meat consumption, offering insights into moral cognition and dissonance processes related to a pressing health and environmental concern.

Accepted for publication in the Social Psychology and Personality Science Journal, January 2021

Recipient of the Student Government Association Research Grant Award