Feeling Pushed and Feeling Pulled: A Panel Study on the Temporal Dynamics of Meat-Related Ambivalence, Morality, and Behavioral Consequences

While felt ambivalence is thought to drive behavior change, the dynamics and boundary conditions of this effect have been underspecified. We conducted a panel study (N = 808 German and Dutch students) in the context of meat consumption and investigated the dynamics of meat-related ambivalence, meat consumption, and moralization over 7 months using Cross-Lagged Panel Models. We expected that omnivores eat less meat when ambivalence pushes them toward moralization, whereas veg*ans (vegetarians and vegans) show more dietary lapses when ambivalence pulls them away from moralization. Congruently, results indicate that ambivalence motivated omnivores to eat less meat over time, primarily when their conflicts involved moral dimensions about farm animals, sustainability, or social context; and veg*ans were likelier to violate their diets when ambivalence centered on positive sensory associations with meat. We conclude that ambivalence motivates behavior change, especially if people are pushed toward or pulled away from moralization.