Maintaining the vegetarian commitment: The role of social capital

This study was designed to determine the role of activity specific social capital in the maintenance of a vegetarian diet. Twenty nine participants were recruited using snowball sampling and participated in semi-structured interviews. Interview results were compiled using the constant comparative method of Grounded Theory. The sample was divided roughly in half by gender with eleven males and eighteen females. Instrumental support proved to be most important to new vegetarians, with expressive support more important later. This research furthers the existing literature by including the experiences of former vegetarians and advocating a redefinition of new vegetarians' reference groups. These findings will assist vegetarian advocacy groups in developing literature aimed at specific groups of new vegetarians.