For many families, holiday meals are as much about tradition as they are about food. New research suggests those traditions may also play an important role in how children learn to think about eating animals.
A study from the University of Exeter, published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, found that children are generally more accepting of eating meat when it is framed as part of a culturally significant event, such as Christmas dinner, compared with everyday meals. The findings suggest that childhood is a key period for learning how social norms and traditions shape food-related moral judgments.
Previous research has shown that young children often express strong concern for animals and may view eating them as morally troubling, particularly when those animals are familiar or cared for. In this study, researchers explored how that concern shifts depending on context. Children, adolescents and adults were presented with short stories describing animals being eaten either during special occasions or in ordinary settings and were then asked how acceptable they found the behavior and how much moral value they assigned to the animals involved.
The researchers found that younger children were especially sensitive to cultural cues. When eating meat was tied to an important tradition, children were more likely to judge it as acceptable and to justify it based on the significance of the occasion rather than concerns about animal welfare.
“Our research found children are highly attuned to social norms and group practices,” said lead researcher Alex Carter. “By taking part in culturally significant events like Christmas, children learn to prioritize human needs and values over animal welfare and gradually align their moral reasoning with societal expectations.”
That sensitivity appeared to diminish with age. Adolescents and adults showed less variation in their judgments depending on context, tending to view eating animals as acceptable regardless of whether it occurred during a special event or an ordinary meal. Their reasoning more often focused on ideas such as health, protein needs or the belief that eating meat is a longstanding and routine practice.
“As children grow, repeated exposure to meat eating and cultural rituals leads to a shift in perspective,” Carter said.
The research included two studies. One involved nearly 600 participants in the United Kingdom ranging from age 8 to 85, while a second focused on children ages 4 to 7. Together, the findings highlight how food traditions function as a form of social learning, shaping not just what children eat, but how they think about food choices and values over time.
The authors caution that the findings are based on Western cultural contexts, particularly traditions such as Christmas, and may not apply in the same way across different cultures or religious practices. They also note that the studies measured moral judgments through hypothetical scenarios, not actual eating behavior.
Still, the results offer insight into how food habits become normalized. The researchers suggest that understanding the role of cultural traditions could help explain why eating patterns are often deeply ingrained and emotionally charged. They also raise the possibility that pairing plant-based foods with meaningful occasions could influence how future generations think about sustainable eating, though that idea has not yet been directly tested.
The research was funded by the UK Research and Innovation Economic and Social Research Council through a studentship.