Researchers from the University of Zurich in Switzerland explored how personality traits relate to diet choices, focusing on meat eaters and those who follow vegetarian or vegan diets. The study, summarized from ScienceDirect findings, looked at how character tends to align with food preferences across a broad group of participants.
To uncover the motivating factors behind diet selection, scientists pooled data from 17 studies that examined the link between personality and eating habits. The goal was to identify which traits are more common among meat eaters and which ones appear more often among vegetarians and vegans, providing a clearer picture of how character might steer food boundaries.
The research drew on a substantial sample, including about 70 thousand individuals from multiple countries such as Germany, the United States, and New Zealand. Participants completed the Big Five personality assessment, which measures openness to experience, agreeableness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and extraversion, or the tendency to enjoy social interaction.
Findings indicate that people following vegetarian or vegan diets tend to score higher on openness and display greater flexibility and adaptability in daily routines. Those who regularly choose plant-based options also appear more willing to consider new ideas and adjust preferences when circumstances change. In contrast, meat eaters showed a tendency toward more reserved behavior and a preference for familiar patterns, which can come across as isolation or stubbornness in social contexts. The study notes that there were no consistent links between neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, and specific eating styles across all samples, suggesting that personality is just one piece of a larger puzzle when it comes to dietary choices.
Earlier discussions have raised questions about how many people in Russia and elsewhere would be ready to reduce or give up meat for ethical, health, or environmental reasons. While appetite and nutrition are deeply personal, the growing body of cross-cultural research helps clarify how personality traits may interact with cultural norms, accessibility, and individual values when deciding what to eat.