Identity processes and food choice: predictors of dietary lapses among ethical and health vegans

Figures & data

Table 1. Factor loadings from factor analysis of prominence and social identity recognition items.

Items	Factor 1 “Identity Prominence”	Factor 2 “Social Identity Recognition”
I have a strong sense of belonging to veganism.	.76	.38
My veganism is an important part of my self-image.	.81	.35
I have come to think about myself as a vegan.	.76	.23
Being vegan is an important reflection of who I am.	.86	.31
It is important to me that non-vegans know about me as a vegan.	.27	.89
It is important to me that other vegans know about me as a vegan.	.36	.80
It is important to me that others in general know about me as a vegan.	.28	.88
Eigenvalue	2.84	2.62

Table 2. Descriptive statistics and differences by motivation.

	Ethical				Health				Differences	Effect Size
Variable	M	SD	Range	N	M	SD	Range	N	t-test	Cohen’s d
Age	34.51	13.89	18–93	302	41.81	14.86	18–75	145	t(445) = −5.08***	0.51
Income	6.78	4.07	1–12	286	8.37	3.82	1–12	156	t(440) = −4.01***	0.40
Years Vegan	7.05	8.10	1–40	314	6.37	7.87	1–35	155	t(467) = 0.87, ns	0.09
Dietary Lapses	1.26	2.00	0–8	317	2.89	2.57	0–8	158	t(474) = −7.58***	0.71
Vegan Interaction	4.08	2.00	1–7	322	3.26	1.81	0–7	158	t(478) = 4.36***	0.43
Identity Prominence	3.48	0.69	1–4	318	3.04	0.73	1–4	157	t(473) = 6.51***	0.62
Social Identity Recognition	2.76	0.92	1–4	304	2.47	0.91	1–4	156	t(458) = 3.19***	0.32
Variable	%			N	%			N	chi-square
White	78.68%			319	67.08%			161	X2 (1) = 7.64**	–
Man	16.77%			316	38.51%			161	X2 (1) = 27.54***	–
Social Media Sample	32.31%			325	4.29%			163	X2 (1) = 48.17***	–

Notes.*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

Table 3. Correlation coefficients.

	1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.	9.	10.
1. Interactions with Vegans	–
2. Identity Prominence	.37***
3. Social Identity Recognition	.41***	.61***
4. Dietary Lapses	−.22***	−.26***	−.11*
5. Age	−.20***	−.06	−.04	.19*
6.White	.03	−.00	−.00	−.03	.08
7. Man	−.06	−.04	.04	.24***	.15**	−.10*
8. Income	−.01	−.11*	−.07	.19***	.29***	−.05	.27***
9. Years Vegan	−.06	.06	.06	.07*	.29***	.01	.11*	.22***
10. Social Media Sample	.35***	.20***	.17**	−.35***	.24***	.17***	−.16***	−.19***	−.14**
11. Health Reason	−.20***	−.29***	−.15**	.33***	.23***	−.13**	.24***	.19***	−.04	−.31***

Notes.*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

Table 4. Measurement model results (Standardized).

	Ethical	Health
Item	Identity Prominence
I have a strong sense of belonging to veganism.	.91***	.85***
My veganism is an important part of my self-image	.85***	.76***
I have come to think about myself as a vegan.	.81***	.73***
Being vegan is an important reflection of who I am.	.85***	.79***
Item	Social Identity Recognition
It is important to me that other non-vegans know about me as a vegan.	.86***	.91***
It is important to me that other vegans know about me as a vegan.	.95***	.95***
It is important to me that others in general know about me as a vegan.	.88***	.88***

Notes.All measurement coefficients were constrained to be equal across groups, but the standardized solution produces estimates separately by group.

*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

Table 5. Structural equation groups model results (Standardized).

	→ Interactions with Vegans	→ Identity Prominence	→ Social Identity Recognition	→ Dietary Lapses
Predictors
Interactions with Vegans
Ethical	–	.32***	.42***	.01
Health	–	.49***	.38***	−.20*
Identity Prominence
Ethical	–	–	–	−.25***
Health	–	–	–	−.20***
Social Identity Recognition
Ethical	–	–	–	.10
Health	–	–	–	.25**
Background Variables
Age
Ethical	−.14**	.06	.02	.06
Health	−.17**	.06	.02	.05
White
Ethical	−.01	−.06	−.02	.05
Health	−.02	−.07	−.03	.05
Man
Ethical	.00	.03	.09*	.13**
Health	.01	.04	.12*	.13**
Income
Ethical	.11*	−.09	−.11*	.08
Health	.11*	−.08	−.11*	.06
Years Vegan
Ethical	−.00	.06	.11*	−.02
Health	−.00	.16*	.11*	−.01
Social Media Sample
Ethical	.34***	.06	.07	−.30***
Health	.16***	.02	.03	−.10***

Notes.N = 488; X² (128) = 144.76 p = .147; RMSEA = .023; CFI = .995; Total CD = .194; Ethical CD = .299; Health CD = .169

Bold indicates structural pathways that could not be constrained as equal across groups. All other coefficients were constrained to be equal across groups, but the standardized solution produces estimates separately by group.

*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

Data availability statement

The data described in this article are openly available in the Open Science Framework at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/DFBEOM