Vorming en behoud van een veganistische levensstijl

Abstract

Veganism is gaining popularity and is associated with multiple benefits regarding a sustainable society. However the group of vegans is relatively small and the literature about this group is very scant. The objective of this study is to provide insight on what vegans stimulate to the development and maintenance of a vegan lifestyle and which factors complicate this. By conducting literature research, this study provides an overview of the internal and external stimuli and barriers which are involved in the development and maintenance of a vegan lifestyle. It is found that being receptive; having a catalysing experience; a supportive social network and physical environment; instrumental and communicative learning; learning to deal with social situations; ethical motivation; associated positive feelings; and the formation of a new (collective) identity, are the main stimuli. Besides, it appears that the two main obstacles to developing and maintaining a vegan lifestyle are an unsupportive social and physical environment and the confrontation with difficult or unpleasant social situations. Barriers and stimuli faced by people who might develop towards a vegan lifestyle, like flexitarians or vegetarians are excluded from the research. Further empirical research is needed to verify how relatively relevant the identified stimuli and barriers are for contemporary vegans.