“Vegan men can be seen as less masculine, so with less stereotypical masculine traits,” the researchers said.

Research suggests that vegan men are deemed less capable of ‘masculine’ jobs than carnivores of the same sex.

The findings – published in the Journal of Social Psychology – come from a study conducted by the University of Warsaw. Conclusions were drawn from data collected from 838 participants.

Underpinning the investigation was interest in how employers in Poland- a country, known for its conservative approach to veganism – perceived the lifestyle and the impact it had on hiring for ‘male’ stereotypical jobs.

According to the latest Eurostat data, only 1% of Poles identify as vegans or vegetarians.

Polish scientists found that men who stated their dietary preferences as vegan in their job applications were perceived as less skilled by potential employers. And, it could lead to them being potentially less hired.

“Vegan men can be seen as less masculine, so with less stereotypical masculine traits,” the researchers said.

This was particularly evident in the case of jobs that were stereotypically perceived as ‘’masculine’’, such as a financial analyst. However, the dietary choices of women ‘’did not influence’’ their job prospects.

Study

Scientists conducted the research by giving 838 study participants fake resumes for both a psychologist role (typical female job) and a financial analyst position (typical male job).

Participants were asked to assess each application for at least 60 seconds before answering questions measuring warmth and competence.

Additional questions were asked to determine the candidate’s suitability and likelihood of being hired, using a scale from one (would definitely not hire) to seven (would definitely hire).

Hobbies were included to differentiate between vegan and non-vegan cooking preferences. Previous experience and education relevant to the job role were also listed.

According to the findings, vegan men who applied for the financial analyst position had an average score of 4.77 for competence and 4.26 for warmth, while meat eaters on average scored 4.92 and 5.3 respectively.

Meanwhile, male vegans who applied for the psychologist role recorded average scores of 4.66 for competence and 4.92 for warmth, while non-vegans in this role scored an average of 4.1 and 4.43 respectively.

“It was observed that in general, vegans who applied for a stereotypically female position – psychologist – were perceived to be warmer than vegans applying for a stereotypically male position – financial analyst,” the team noted.

Other studies

Another study conducted in Australia suggested that men on a non-vegan diet consider themselves as possessing more “manliness” than those following a vegan one.

The study was conducted by the University of Canberra in which researchers surveyed 5,244 men and women.

The study authors noted: “Our findings suggest that men in Australia may resist giving up meat because eating meat is a way of enacting their masculinity.

“Media representations of meat are gendered and many advertisements position meat as ‘manly’. Even preschool-aged boys implicitly associate meat with maleness.”

Plant-based trend

Despite these studies seemingly attributing veganism to male incompetence, the general trend is quite the opposite.

The popularity of plant-based diets has soared in recent years with people making conscious efforts to reduce meat consumption for ethical, environmental or health reasons. 

According to a report by Future Market Insights, overall plant-based food sales are poised to surge at a stupendous CAGR of 12.2% between 2023 and 2033.

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