Newsweek ScienceA new study suggests that people who follow a vegetarian diet may place less importance on certain social values—like caring for close others and conforming to societal norms—than those who regularly eat meat.
In his paper, published in the journal PLOS ONE, psychologist professor John Nezlek of the College of William and Mary in Virginia conducted a meta-analysis of three past studies from both the United States and Poland to assess how core human values differ between vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
"The present results suggest that vegetarians hold values consistent with being members of a social minority who are willing to stand by their principles," he wrote.
What The Study Did
Nezlek analyzed three past studies involving adult subjects: one in the U.S., where vegetarians