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© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Simple Summary

Animal Welfare Attitudes (AWA) can be defined as the attitudes of humans towards the welfare of animals. Although AWA has been previously associated with demographic factors as gender, one of the main limitations is that few studies applied robust psychometric questionnaire scales. Moreover, some evidence of cross-cultural variations in AWA have been reported although limited by the reduced number of countries being examined. To overcome these limitations, a survey aimed at assessing the gender differences in AWA in university students living in 22 nations, based on a questionnaire having undergone psychometric testing (i.e., the Composite Respect for Animals Scale Short version, CRAS-S), was carried out. To this end, the CRAS-S was administered to 7914 people (5155 women, 2711 men, 48 diverse) alongside a questionnaire on demographic information and diet. Moreover, the gender inequality index, based on indicators as completion of secondary education, was computed. The main results showed that diet was significantly related to AWA; more in detail, higher AWA was observed in vegans compared to omnivores. Moreover, gender differences in AWA have been reported, with women referring higher AWA compared to men. In addition, to the decreasing of gender inequality, gender differences in AWA increased.

Abstract

Animal Welfare Attitudes (AWA) are defined as human attitudes towards the welfare of animals in different dimensions and settings. Demographic factors, such as age and gender are associated with AWA. The aim of this study was to assess gender differences among university students in a large convenience sample from twenty-two nations in AWA. A total of 7914 people participated in the study (5155 women, 2711 men, 48 diverse). Participants completed a questionnaire that collected demographic data, typical diet and responses to the Composite Respect for Animals Scale Short version (CRAS-S). In addition, we used a measure of gender empowerment from the Human Development Report. The largest variance in AWA was explained by diet, followed by country and gender. In terms of diet, 6385 participants reported to be omnivores, 296 as pescatarian, 637 ate a vegetarian diet and 434 were vegans (n = 162 without answer). Diet was related with CRAS-S scores; people with a vegan diet scored higher in AWA than omnivores. Women scored significantly higher on AWA than men. Furthermore, gender differences in AWA increased as gender inequality decreased.

Details

Title
Animal Welfare Attitudes: Effects of Gender and Diet in University Samples from 22 Countries
Author
Randler, Christoph 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Adan, Ana 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Maria-Mihaela Antofie 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Arrona-Palacios, Arturo 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Manecas Candido 5 ; Boeve-de Pauw, Jelle 6 ; Chandrakar, Priti 7 ; Demirhan, Eda 8   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Detsis, Vassilis 9   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Lee Di Milia 10   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Fančovičová, Jana 11   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Gericke, Niklas 12   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Haldar, Prasun 13 ; Heidari, Zeinab 14 ; Jankowski, Konrad S 15   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Lehto, Juhani E 16 ; Lundell-Creagh, Ryan 17 ; Medina-Jerez, William 18 ; Meule, Adrian 19   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Milfont, Taciano L 20 ; Orgilés, Mireia 21   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Morales, Alexandra 21   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Natale, Vincenzo 22   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Ortiz-Jiménez, Xóchitl 23   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Pande, Babita 7   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Partonen, Timo 24   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Pati, Atanu Kumar 25   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Prokop, Pavol 26   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Rahafar, Arash 14 ; Scheuch, Martin 27   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Sahu, Subhashis 28   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Tomažič, Iztok 29 ; Tonetti, Lorenzo 22   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Pablo Vallejo Medina 30   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Peter van Petegem 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Vargas, Alejandro 30 ; Vollmer, Christian 31   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Department of Biology, University of Tuebingen, Morgenstelle 24, D-72076 Tuebingen, Germany; LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, University of Tübingen, D-72072 Tübingen, Germany; Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology, University of Education Heidelberg, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany 
 Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, School of Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; [email protected]; Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain 
 Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Food Industry and Environmental Protection, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, 550012 Sibiu, Romania; [email protected] 
 Writing Lab, Institute for the Future of Education, Tecnologico de Monterrey, 64849 Monterery, Mexico; [email protected] 
 Department of Natural Sciences, Universidade Pedagogica Mazombique, University Rovuma, 3100 Nampula, Mozambique; [email protected] 
 Department of Training and Education Sciences, University of Antwerp, Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium; [email protected] (J.B.-d.P.); [email protected] (P.v.P.) 
 SoS in Life Science, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur 492010, India; [email protected] (P.C.); [email protected] (B.P.); [email protected] (A.K.P.) 
 Department of Special Education, Sakarya University, Sakarya 54300, Turkey; [email protected] 
 Department of Economics and Sustainable Development, Harokopio University, Venizelou 70, 17676 Athens, Greece; [email protected] 
10  School of Business & Law, CQ University Australia, Rockhampton, QLD 4701, Australia; [email protected] 
11  Department of Biology, Faculty of Education, Trnava University, Priemyselná 4, 918 43 Trnava, Slovakia; [email protected] 
12  Department of Environmental and Life Sciences, Karlstad University, 65188 Karlstad, Sweden; [email protected] 
13  Department of Biological Sciences, Midnapore City College, Paschim Medinipur 721129, West Bengal, India; [email protected] 
14  Independent Researcher, 1653676331 Tehran, Iran; [email protected] (Z.H.); [email protected] (A.R.) 
15  Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, 00-183 Warszawa, Poland; [email protected] 
16  Educational Sciences, Open University, P.O. Box 9 (Siltavuorenpenger 3 A), University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland; [email protected] 
17  Department of Psychology, Bishops University, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 1Z7, Canada; [email protected] 
18  College of Education, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA; [email protected] 
19  Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of the LMU Munich, Nußbaumstraße 7, 80336 Munich, Germany; [email protected]; Schoen Clinic Roseneck, Am Roseneck 6, 83209 Prien am Chiemsee, Germany 
20  School of Psychology, University of Waikato, 3240 Hamilton, New Zealand; [email protected] 
21  Department of Health Psychology, Miguel Hernández University, 03202 Elche (Alicante), Spain; [email protected] (M.O.); [email protected] (A.M.) 
22  Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, 40127 Bologna, Italy; [email protected] (V.N.); [email protected] (L.T.) 
23  School of Psychology, Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, 64460 Monterrey, Mexico; [email protected] 
24  Department of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), P.O. Box 30 (Mannerheimintie 166), 00271 Helsinki, Finland; [email protected] 
25  SoS in Life Science, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur 492010, India; [email protected] (P.C.); [email protected] (B.P.); [email protected] (A.K.P.); Center for Translational Chronobiology, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur 492010, India; Gangadhar Meher University, Sambalpur 768004, India 
26  Department of Environmental Ecology and Landscape Management, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia; [email protected]; Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 06 Bratislava, Slovakia 
27  Austrian Educational Competence Centre for Biology, University of Vienna, Porzellangasse 4/2, 1090 Vienna, Austria; [email protected]; Environmental Education, University College for Agricultural & Environmental Education, Angermayergasse 1, 1130 Vienna, Austria 
28  Ergonomics & Occupational Physiology Laboratory, Department of Physiology, University of Kalyani, Kalyani 741235, West Bengal, India; [email protected] 
29  Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; [email protected] 
30  Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz. Cra. 9 Bis #62-43, 110231 Bogotá, Colombia; [email protected] (P.V.M.); [email protected] (A.V.) 
31  Department of Research and Development in Teacher Education, University College of Teacher Education Tyrol, Pastorsstr. 7, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria; [email protected] 
First page
1893
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20762615
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2554362638
Copyright
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.