Cultured meat (also referred to as cultivated, cell-based, or cell-cultured meat) is a novel food technology that is presented as a method of meat production without reliance on large-scale industrial farming. The pro-cultured meat narrative rests, in part, on a moral foundation: cultured meat is purported to alleviate the environmental and animal welfare harms associated with farmed meat. Despite this narrative, no research has examined which moral values underpin attitudes towards cultured meat. To examine this, we surveyed 1861 participants from the United States and Germany about their moral foundations and their attitudes towards cultured meat. In line with predictions, people who more strongly endorse moral values about purity (i.e., had higher scores on the purity subscale of the moral foundations scale) held more negative attitudes towards cultured meat. However, this relationship was much more consistent among participants from the United States than participants from Germany. Against predictions, attitudes towards cultured meat were not reliably associated with the extent to which people focus on harm as a moral foundation. The latter finding was particularly surprising in light of harm-reduction narratives around cultured meat. These findings demonstrate the need for a more nuanced discussion about, and understanding of, consumer concerns around cultured meat and the values that underpin them.

中文翻译：

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肉类与道德：纯洁而非伤害的道德基础预示着人们对培养肉的态度

培养肉（也称为培育肉、细胞肉或细胞培养肉）是一种新型食品技术，是一种不依赖大规模工业化养殖的肉类生产方法。支持养殖肉类的说法部分是建立在道德基础上的：养殖肉类据称可以减轻与养殖肉类相关的环境和动物福利危害。尽管有这样的说法，但还没有研究探讨哪些道德价值观支撑着人们对人造肉的态度。为了检验这一点，我们对来自美国和德国的 1861 名参与者进行了调查，了解他们的道德基础和对培养肉的态度。与预测一致，那些更强烈地支持有关纯度的道德价值观的人（即，在道德基础量表的纯度子量表上得分较高）对培养肉持更消极的态度。然而，这种关系在美国参与者中比在德国参与者中更加一致。与预测相反，对培养肉的态度与人们将伤害作为道德基础的程度并没有可靠的联系。鉴于有关培养肉的减害叙述，后一个发现尤其令人惊讶。这些发现表明，需要对消费者对培养肉的担忧及其背后的价值观进行更细致的讨论和理解。