Meat consumption needs to be reduced to limit climate change but achieving this requires understanding the drivers of meat consumption. In this study, we investigated two potential drivers—a contextual threat to masculinity and the stable individual difference of masculine ideology—and how they predict meat-eating intentions, attitudes, and environmentalism. Employing a sample of 375 Australian men, a population known for its high meat consumption, we did not find support that a contextual threat to men’s masculinity increased pro-meat attitudes or intentions. Instead, we found that prevailing views about masculine ideology significantly predicted meat-related attitudes and intentions, with avoidance of femininity associated with lower avoidance of meat and lower intentions to eat clean meat, and the endorsement of male dominance tied to lower pro-environmental responding. Our findings suggest that situational threats to masculinity may not robustly affect meat consumption intentions and highlight the importance of more stable individual differences in the conception of the male gender identity in maintaining men’s high meat consumption.

需要减少肉类消费以限制气候变化，但实现这一目标需要了解肉类消费的驱动因素。在这项研究中，我们调查了两个潜在的驱动因素——对男性气质的背景威胁和男性意识形态的稳定个体差异——以及它们如何预测食肉意图、态度和环保主义。我们对 375 名以高肉类消费而闻名的澳大利亚男性进行了抽样调查，结果没有发现对男性阳刚之气的背景威胁会增加支持肉类的态度或意图的证据。相反，我们发现，关于男性意识形态的盛行观点显着预测了与肉类相关的态度和意图，回避女性气质与较低的不吃肉和较低的吃干净肉的意愿相关，而对男性主导地位的认可则与较低的亲环境反应相关。 。我们的研究结果表明，对男性气概的情境威胁可能不会强烈影响肉类消费意图，并强调了男性性别认同概念中更稳定的个体差异对于维持男性高肉类消费的重要性。