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.