Paradoxical gender effects in meat consumption across cultures

Scientific Reports volume  14, Article number: 13033 (2024 ) Cite this article

Men tend to eat more meat than women, but it is not clear why. We tested three hypotheses in a cross-cultural design (20,802 individuals in 23 countries across four continents): that gender differences are (a) universal, (b) related to gender roles and thus weaker in countries with higher gender equality and human development, or (c) related to opportunities to express gender roles and thus stronger in countries with higher gender equality and human development. Across all countries, men tended to consume more meat than women. However, this difference increased significantly in countries with greater human development and gender equality. The paradoxical gender gap in meat consumption aligns with previous research that suggests greater differences in behavior across genders in contexts that are more developed and gender equal. We discuss implications for theories of culture and gender as well as practical implications for global meat reduction.

Meat consumption represents a significant threat to environmental sustainability via its impact on climate change, human health via its association with risk for disease, and social justice via its impact on animal welfare worldwide1,2,3,4,5. Meat consumption is reliably higher among men than women in North American and European samples6,7,8,9, but reasons for this difference remain unclear. Understanding this difference can shed light on how gender interacts with culture and may pave ways to reduce meat consumption and its negative impacts. We used data from 23 countries from four continents to test three competing hypotheses about gender differences in meat consumption.

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