Meat, Masculinity, and Justification: Insights from Recent Studies in Turkey

A study published in BMC Psychology in 2025 validated Turkish versions of meat‑eating justification scales, showing how individuals rationalize consumption through frameworks such as the “4Ns” (Natural, Necessary, Normal, and Nice) and linking these rationalizations to attitudes like social dominance orientation, speciesism, and masculinity. Complementing this, research conducted at Istanbul University in 2019 examined how male athletes perceive meat as indispensable to performance, reflecting entrenched ideals of strength, dominance, and virility. Taken together, these studies reveal how meat is elevated not only through structured rationalizations but also through symbolic associations, exposing the persistence of norms that reinforce its status rather than questioning its necessity.

Psychological Perspectives: Rationalizing Meat Consumption (2025)

The BMC Psychology study recruited 520 participants between May and December 2022 to adapt and validate two instruments: the Meat‑Eating Justifications (MEJ) scale and the 4Ns scale. The 4Ns framework captured the most common rationalizations, with meat described as natural due to evolutionary or religious beliefs, necessary for health and strength, normal because it is socially expected, and nice for its taste. The MEJ scale expanded these rationalizations into direct strategies such as health, hierarchy, and religion, and indirect strategies such as avoidance, denial, and dissociation.

The study found strong reliability and validity for the Turkish versions. Higher endorsement of meat‑eating justifications correlated with social dominance orientation, speciesism, and traditional masculinity norms. Religious justifications were particularly significant in the Turkish context, reflecting the role of ritual sacrifice and cultural practices. By validating these scales, the study provided reliable tools for future research in Turkey, enabling scholars to measure how rationalizations for meat consumption operate across different groups and contexts.

Sociological Perspectives: Meat and Masculinity (2019)

The Istanbul University study, conducted in 2019, used a qualitative phenomenological design with semi‑structured interviews of fourteen male athletes in Eskişehir. Participants came from sports such as football, bodybuilding, rugby, boxing, and CrossFit, disciplines often associated with strength and male dominance.

Findings revealed that meat eating was consistently described as a patriarchal symbol. Athletes linked meat to hunting, aggression, and dominance over nature, while vegetables and grains were dismissed as feminine foods. Men who avoided meat were perceived as emasculated and excluded from homosocial rituals such as barbecuing, which itself was described as reinforcing hegemonic masculinity.

The study also highlighted how medical discourse and media narratives reinforce these beliefs. Meat was associated with muscularity, athletic performance, and even sexual power, while meat‑free diets were portrayed as a risk to fertility or strength. In this way, cultural narratives and scientific rhetoric converge to sustain the idea that meat is indispensable for male identity.

Conclusion

Together, these studies highlight the cultural and psychological mechanisms that sustain meat consumption in Turkey. The 2025 psychological validation shows how individuals rationalize meat eating through entrenched frameworks, while the 2019 sociological analysis demonstrates how those rationalizations are lived and reproduced in athletic and social contexts. Both perspectives underscore how dietary practices are shaped by norms and cultural narratives, offering insight into the persistence of beliefs that elevate meat as a marker of identity and power.