Psychologist James Kitts infiltrated vegetarian student cooperatives in which people live and eat together under the norm of a meatless lifestyle. In his 1995 study, he found that most people explained that they would sometimes sneak a piece of beef or chicken when away from the other members, but would never do such a thing in the shared housing, out of a fear of offending others or making them feel sick. Kitts surveyed the population of several of these collectives and combined their answers. Together, the members estimated that about 75 percent of the vegetarians stuck to their diet and avoided beef. The actual number was around 62 percent. When asked about fish, the vegetarians estimated that about 40 percent of their brethren sometimes slipped a bite here and there, but the actual percentage of people sneaking out to eat fish was closer to 60 percent. Kitt’s research further supported the idea that pluralistic ignorance can cause any sort of group to remain one way when its members would prefer it to be another. Most people wanted to eat meat occasionally, especially fish, but no one would say so out loud, and so most people thought they were members of a tiny cabal of cheaters. Cant trust a vegetarian...
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 11:45:03 +0000
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