‘Meat eaters are dominant people’

Meat eaters feel superior, a study conducted by researchers from Tilburg and Nijmegen shows. Eating meat appears to make people less sociable and in many respects ‘bad mannered’.

Social psychologist Marcel Zeelenberg and Diederik Stapel (consumer behavior) of Tilburg University and social psychologist Roos Vonk at Radboud University concluded that carnivores are less sociable and more selfish. Meat has a symbolic value, it gives some people a feeling of superiority and status, which removes their underlying uncertainty. According to the researchers, vegetarians are happier and less lonely.

The study divided participants into two groups. The test persons of one group were made insecure, after which they were offered steak, egg or fish. Most participants of the uncertain group chose for meat, while in the other group only 20 percent opted for steak. The subjects that chose for meat also thought more in terms of dominance and being the boss, the researchers said.