Society

Poles find vegetarians less attractive, says dating study

The study investigated what heterosexual meat-eaters felt about various fictitious dating profiles. Photo: Unsplash/
The study investigated what heterosexual meat-eaters felt about various fictitious dating profiles. Photo: Unsplash/Henrique Felix
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Informing others about their diet can make it harder for vegetarian Poles to find a romantic partner, research by the University of Warsaw suggests.

The study, penned “Dating a Vegetarian? Perception of Masculinity, Attractiveness, and the Willingness to Date Vegetarians,” was published in the Social Psychological Bulletin. It investigated what heterosexual meat-eaters felt about various fictitious dating profiles.

The research team hypothesized that dietary preferences, specifically vegetarianism, would provoke biases in respondents due to societal norms, cultural traditions and “the broader influence of gender roles and traditional values in Polish society,” the PsyPost psychology website reported.

The study looked at the responses of 404 heterosexual meat-eaters (204 women and 200 men), aged 18–82, to the simulated dating profiles of four kinds of people: those who were vegetarian for ethical reasons, for environmental reasons, for health reasons, and also people whose dietary habits were not mentioned.

Subjects recorded their willingness to date the individual, along with their impressions of ‘gender congruence,’ and of the possession of masculine or feminine traits.

The study showed that the profiles with no mention of dietary habits received the highest ratings. The lowest were those of people who were vegetarians for health reasons.
Men motivated to quit meat eating on ethical grounds were perceived less favorably by women than ethically-driven vegetarian women were by men.

People’s eating choices also affected perceptions of masculinity and femininity, the research found, with vegetarian women seen as less feminine and their male counterparts less masculine.

The research team interpreted the results in terms of cultural and psychological theories. One explanation proffered was the ‘similarity effect,’ which holds that people find like-minded potential partners more attractive.

The researchers suggest that because eating habits often reflect deeper values, vegetarians may be perceived as fundamentally different.

The team, consisting of Dominika Adamczyk, John B. Nezlek and Dominika Maison, also said that meat consumption is associated in Poland with strength and masculinity, so rejecting it as a lifestyle choice may hamper men’s dating chances.
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