Moralization and Becoming a Vegetarian: The Transformation of Preferences Into Values and the Recruitment of Disgust

TLDR

The study defines moralization as the process by which previously neutral objects or activities acquire a moral component and examines its effects by comparing health and moral vegetarians. Moralization transforms preferences into values, enhancing internalization, emotional response, and institutional support, thereby facilitating cross‑generational transmission. The authors find that cigarette smoking has become moralized in recent decades, and that moral vegetarians view meat as more disgusting, provide more justifications, and avoid a broader array of animal foods than health vegetarians, although meat liking is similar across groups.

Abstract

We describe a rather common process that we call moralization, in which objects or activities that were previously morally neutral acquire a moral component. Moralization converts preferences into values, and in doing so influences cross-generational transmission (because values are passed more effectively in families than are preferences), increases the likelihood of internalization, invokes greater emotional response, and mobilizes the support of governmental and other cultural institutions. In recent decades, we claim, cigarette smoking in America has become moralized. We support our claims about some of the consequences of moralization with an analysis of differences between health and moral vegetarians. Compared with health vegetarians, moral vegetarians find meat more disgusting, offer more reasons in support of their meat avoidance, and avoid a wider range of animal foods. However, contrary to our prediction, liking for meat is about the same in moral and health vegetarians.