The role of implicit attitudes and automatic processes in sustainable food choices.

Implicit attitudes are subtle, unconscious beliefs that sometimes might differ from explicit attitudes, which are consciously expressed. For this reason, measuring implicit attitudes could reveal biases and preferences that explicit measures may not fully capture. In sustainability research, measuring implicit attitudes is crucial for capturing automatic processes that significantly influence spontaneous behavior. Indeed, many food-related choices are driven by automatic associations and emotions. While explicit attitudes often predict intentional behavior, implicit attitudes can influence automatic, spontaneous actions. Research shows that implicit attitudes are particularly influential in shaping eating behaviors such as meat and vegetable consumption. Among other findings, vegetarians exhibit a stronger implicit preference for vegetables, while omnivores hold less definitive biases. Implicit measures also reveal automatic gendered associations between meat and masculinity, highlighting potential resistance to dietary changes. Importantly, implicit biases can predict long-term intentions to reduce meat intake, especially when combined with social norms and cognitive dissonance. For this reason, studies emphasize the importance of integrating the analysis of implicit and explicit attitudes for understanding sustainability behaviors comprehensively.