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
