Testing an online intervention targeting the Meat–Masculinity association through the inherence heuristic

This project examines whether a reasoning-based intervention can weaken the association between meat consumption and masculinity by targeting the inherence heuristic, a cognitive tendency to explain social patterns by attributing them to inherent or natural causes rather than to social, cultural, or historical processes. The association between meat consumption and masculinity is a well-documented social norm that has been linked to gender identity, status signaling, and dietary behavior. Because such associations may contribute to higher meat consumption among men and reinforce gendered expectations around food, understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying these beliefs is important for the development of behavior change interventions. In the present online experiment, participants are exposed to a series of short essays designed to challenge inherence-based explanations of the association between meat and masculinity. The essays present alternative explanations emphasizing social, cultural, or historical factors that may account for the observed pattern. Participants will read four essays and evaluate them on measures including perceived credibility and psychological reactance. These measures allow us to assess how participants respond to the intervention materials and whether some versions of the essays generate lower resistance and higher perceived plausibility. Participants will also complete measures assessing endorsement of the meat–masculinity association and the control association (milk aversion-Asian), provide explanations for why such an association may exist, and their motivation to change their meat and vegetable consumption. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to test whether exposure to the essays reduces endorsement of the meat–masculinity association and the belief that meat is masculine, and increases motivation to change eating behaviors; and (2) to identify the essays that perform best in terms of credibility and reactance for use in a subsequent field intervention.