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The Role of State and Trait Emotional Empathy Toward Animals in the Associations of Dissociation and Meat Consumption

Received: 11 October 2021    Accepted: 28 October 2021    Published: 17 November 2021
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Abstract

Many people enjoy eating meat but dislike the harming of animals that it entails. Dissociating meat from its animal origins has been identified as a powerful way to avoid cognitive dissonance resulting from this ‘meat paradox’. Extending previous research, this study examined the effect of dissociation on meat consumption and elucidate the role of state and trait emotional empathy toward animals in the associations of dissociation and meat consumption. Using a between-subjects design, participants were randomly allocated to dissociation-blocking condition or dissociation condition and completed measures of trait emotional empathy, state emotional empathy and positivity toward meat consuming. Results showed that dissociation-blocking was associated with reduced positivity to meat consuming. State emotional empathy mediated the association between dissociation and meat consumption and trait emotional empathy moderated the direct effect of dissociation on meat consumption, exactly, among participants who scored lower in trait emotional empathy, the effect of dissociation on meat consumption was significant, while among those who scored high in trait emotional empathy, the effect of dissociation on meat consumption was insignificant. To conclude, the present study demonstrated the effect of dissociation on meat consumption and further revealed the mediation effect of state emotional empathy and the moderation effect of trait emotional empathy in the associations between dissociation and meat consumption, which provided a unique insight into the relationship between dissociation and meat consumption.

Published in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 10, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.pbs.20211006.13
Page(s) 209-215
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Dissociation, Emotional Empathy, Meat Consumption

References
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  • APA Style

    Kaili Zhao, Qianxia Jiang, Xianyou He. (2021). The Role of State and Trait Emotional Empathy Toward Animals in the Associations of Dissociation and Meat Consumption. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 10(6), 209-215. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20211006.13

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    ACS Style

    Kaili Zhao; Qianxia Jiang; Xianyou He. The Role of State and Trait Emotional Empathy Toward Animals in the Associations of Dissociation and Meat Consumption. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2021, 10(6), 209-215. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20211006.13

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    AMA Style

    Kaili Zhao, Qianxia Jiang, Xianyou He. The Role of State and Trait Emotional Empathy Toward Animals in the Associations of Dissociation and Meat Consumption. Psychol Behav Sci. 2021;10(6):209-215. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20211006.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.pbs.20211006.13,
      author = {Kaili Zhao and Qianxia Jiang and Xianyou He},
      title = {The Role of State and Trait Emotional Empathy Toward Animals in the Associations of Dissociation and Meat Consumption},
      journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
      volume = {10},
      number = {6},
      pages = {209-215},
      doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20211006.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20211006.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20211006.13},
      abstract = {Many people enjoy eating meat but dislike the harming of animals that it entails. Dissociating meat from its animal origins has been identified as a powerful way to avoid cognitive dissonance resulting from this ‘meat paradox’. Extending previous research, this study examined the effect of dissociation on meat consumption and elucidate the role of state and trait emotional empathy toward animals in the associations of dissociation and meat consumption. Using a between-subjects design, participants were randomly allocated to dissociation-blocking condition or dissociation condition and completed measures of trait emotional empathy, state emotional empathy and positivity toward meat consuming. Results showed that dissociation-blocking was associated with reduced positivity to meat consuming. State emotional empathy mediated the association between dissociation and meat consumption and trait emotional empathy moderated the direct effect of dissociation on meat consumption, exactly, among participants who scored lower in trait emotional empathy, the effect of dissociation on meat consumption was significant, while among those who scored high in trait emotional empathy, the effect of dissociation on meat consumption was insignificant. To conclude, the present study demonstrated the effect of dissociation on meat consumption and further revealed the mediation effect of state emotional empathy and the moderation effect of trait emotional empathy in the associations between dissociation and meat consumption, which provided a unique insight into the relationship between dissociation and meat consumption.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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    AU  - Kaili Zhao
    AU  - Qianxia Jiang
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    PY  - 2021
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20211006.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.pbs.20211006.13
    T2  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
    JF  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
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    SN  - 2328-7845
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20211006.13
    AB  - Many people enjoy eating meat but dislike the harming of animals that it entails. Dissociating meat from its animal origins has been identified as a powerful way to avoid cognitive dissonance resulting from this ‘meat paradox’. Extending previous research, this study examined the effect of dissociation on meat consumption and elucidate the role of state and trait emotional empathy toward animals in the associations of dissociation and meat consumption. Using a between-subjects design, participants were randomly allocated to dissociation-blocking condition or dissociation condition and completed measures of trait emotional empathy, state emotional empathy and positivity toward meat consuming. Results showed that dissociation-blocking was associated with reduced positivity to meat consuming. State emotional empathy mediated the association between dissociation and meat consumption and trait emotional empathy moderated the direct effect of dissociation on meat consumption, exactly, among participants who scored lower in trait emotional empathy, the effect of dissociation on meat consumption was significant, while among those who scored high in trait emotional empathy, the effect of dissociation on meat consumption was insignificant. To conclude, the present study demonstrated the effect of dissociation on meat consumption and further revealed the mediation effect of state emotional empathy and the moderation effect of trait emotional empathy in the associations between dissociation and meat consumption, which provided a unique insight into the relationship between dissociation and meat consumption.
    VL  - 10
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Author Information
  • Department of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

  • Department of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

  • Department of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

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