Vegetarianism and Veganism

Gender is a very important factor when considering people's perceptions toward animal issues, including vegetarianism and veganism (veg*nism). Although estimates vary, it is clear that the majority of people who are sympathetic toward animal issues and identify as veg*n are women. In a 2005 survey of the literature on veg*nism, HRC concluded that about 63% of vegetarians are female.

As the oil flows in the Gulf of Mexico and public attention turns to marine life, the mainstream media is covering the plight of fishermen and their loss of livelihood. Animal advocates, on the other hand, have also been thinking of the fish. It seems that fish are rarely the focus of animal protection efforts even though billions of fish are killed each year, over-fishing is damaging ecosystems, and the mercury content of fish is making people sick.

A recent study shows vegetarians and vegans may be more empathetic than people who eat meat. This study, by Filippi et al., is making it big in the blogosphere and in vegetarian circles, but the idea that people who don't eat meat are fundamentally different than those who do is nothing new. A 2007 study by Gale et al. found that people with higher IQs as children are more likely to become vegetarian and vegan as adults.

Written by Diane Venberg, one of HRC's 2010 interns, this wonderful overview of HumaneSpot.org shows the breadth of our research database and highlights a number of important studies. Be sure to give this blog a read if you've been wanting a taste of what HumaneSpot.org has to offer before applying for access. And if you have any research that you think should be included in our database, be sure to let us know.