Vegetarianism,depression, and the five factor model of personality |
| |
Authors: | Catherine A. Forestell John B. Nezlek |
| |
Affiliation: | 1. Department of Psychological Sciences, The College of William &2. Mary, Williamsburg, VA, USA;3. Institute of Psychology, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Poznań, Poland |
| |
Abstract: | This study investigated whether vegetarians and omnivores differ in their personality characteristics. We measured the five factor model of personality and depressive symptoms in vegetarians, who avoided meat and fish (n = 276); semi-vegetarians, who ate some meat and/or fish (n = 1191); and omnivores (n = 4955). Although vegetarians and semi-vegetarians were more open to new experiences, they were more neurotic and depressed than omnivores. Neither conscientiousness nor agreeableness varied as a function of dietary habits. These findings contribute to our understanding about differences between vegetarians’ and omnivores’ personalities, which might help us better understand individual differences in food preferences. |
| |
Keywords: | Depression neuroticism openness personality semi-vegetarian vegetarian |
|
|