Leister, Thea Sophie (2024) Stick to the Meat You Know - The Role of Status Quo Bias and Moral Disengagement in Sustaining Meat Consumption. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Despite numerous adverse consequences and concerns about its morality, meat consumption remains a valued and almost universally implemented practice. This thesis therefore aims to investigate the reasons that perpetuate this inertia surrounding meat consumption, with emphasis on understanding the role of status quo bias and moral disengagement. To this end, we conducted an online survey in which participants were presented with a text highlighting the negative effects of meat consumption. Subsequently, we asked respondents to rate the persuasiveness of the arguments presented to them and to indicate what they believed to have motivated the author to write the text. Results suggested the presence of moral disengagement processes, as omnivorous participants rated the arguments presented to them as significantly less convincing than meat-avoiding participants. Findings for status quo bias were inconclusive but displayed interaction effects, indicating that participants with high meat consumption reported perceiving more selfish motives in the author and reduced persuasiveness when they were higher on status quo bias. Our findings thus illustrate the influence of individual differences and the moderating role of status quo bias on moral disengagement. Limitations and theoretical implications, such as the need for targeted interventions to improve persuasion outcomes, were discussed. Keywords: Meat Consumption, Status Quo Bias, Moral Disengagement, Motivated Reasoning
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Supervisor name: | Gutzkow, B. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | None [Bachelor Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 10 Jul 2024 08:25 |
| Last Modified: | 10 Jul 2024 08:25 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3791 |
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