Lopes Lange, Laura (2025) Transformation Towards a Sustainable Food System: The Role of Speciesism for Policy Acceptability. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
The differential treatment based on species membership, called speciesism, manifests itself among others in humans’ instrumental use of animals as food. Animal rights advocates have called for a food system transformation consisting of a substantial decrease in animal-based foods to foster trans-species justice and climate change mitigation. Speciesism is associated with increased animal consumption, which in turn reduces support for climate policies. The current study directly investigated the role of speciesism for policy acceptability (PA) of two market-based policies promoting plant-based foods – taxes and subsidies. Policy packaging was applied to account for distributional fairness. Besides, within a randomized control trial, half of the participants received a speciesism reduction intervention consisting of images of animals and humans in reversed roles. Change in speciesism was expected to be non-linear: extreme high and low speciesist individuals ought to change less compared to moderately speciesist individuals. PA levels of 240 participants were measured after receiving displays of animal- and plant-based product packages and their price change after hypothetical policy implementation. We did not find a significant difference in PA between policy packages. Speciesism was negatively associated with food PA. While the intervention increasingly evoked feelings of injustice in participants, it did not lead to changes in perspective-taking, speciesism or food PA levels. Results emphasize the relevance of addressing speciesism in pursuit of raising food PA, especially for more coercive policies, and improving interventions to reduce speciesism. An unexpected group effect in this context will be discussed as well as practical implications.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Muinos Trujillo, G. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Environmental Psychology (EP) [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 05 Aug 2025 12:40 |
| Last Modified: | 05 Aug 2025 12:40 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5812 |
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