Development, validity and reliability study of vegetarianism adherence scale

Vegetarianism, while defined as a diet, is also seen as a philosophy of life based on animal rights and environmental ethics. It is reported that vegetarianism has been adopted by more and more people in recent years, and at the same time, it is claimed that vegetarian individuals are not committed to their diets and philosophies. This study was aimed to determine the factors affecting the commitment of vegetarians to their diets and philosophies and to develop the Vegetarianism Adherence Scale to measure the level of adherence. As the research method of the study, 'exploratory sequential design', one of the mixed methods, was used. With the qualitative study, the items to be included in the Vegetarianism Adherence Scale were determined, and a two-stage quantitative study was conducted for the validity and reliability analyses of the created scale. In the quantitative stages, Explanatory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis methods were used. The qualitative and first quantitative phase was carried out face-to-face in Istanbul and the second quantitative phase was carried out face-to-face at Didim VegFest and in Istanbul. In this study, the Vegetarianism Adherence Scale consisting of three factors named ''Dedication'', ''Flexibility'' and ''Tolerance'' and 13 items, whose validity and reliability stages were completed, was developed to measure the adherence levels of vegetarians. In the light of the data obtained during the study, it was decided to develop a second scale that could be used to measure the level of adherence of vegans to veganism. The Veganism Adherence Scale, consisting of 16 items and four dimensions defined as 'Dedication', 'Flexibility', 'Tolerance' and 'Pragmatism', which has xxi sufficient validity and reliability in measuring the level of adherence of vegans, was developed. According to preliminary findings for the Vegetarianism Adherence Scale and Veganism Adherence Scale, participants who became vegan/vegetarian due to ethical/moral motivations, compared to those who became vegan/vegetarian for health reasons (p<0.05), participants who engage in activism, compared to those who do not engage in activism (p<0.05), and participants who influenced other people to become vegan/vegetarian, compared to other participants (p<0.05), scored significantly higher on both the Vegetarianism Adherence Scale and the Veganism Adherence Scale As a result, it can be argued that the Vegetarianism Adherence Scale can be used to measure the level of adherence of vegan and vegetarian individuals to vegetarianism, and the Veganism Adherence Scale can be used to measure the level of adherence of vegan individuals to veganism. Keywords: Dietary adherence, exploratory sequential design, scale development, veganism, vegetarianism