Victoria Simpson
Victoria Simpson is a Ph.D. candidate in Psychology at the University of Lancaster, England, where she conducts research in developmental psychology, and specifically the development of prejudice. These interests are reflected in her research project for CAF, “Children as Agents of Environmental Change: Reducing Barriers to Sustainable and Healthy Diet Choices.” In this project, Victoria explores the attitudes that children have towards the consumption of meat and its production, and how these attitudes might shift with age or with life experiences. Although children in today’s world tend to think it’s less acceptable for animals to be exploited for meat, there are still stigmas associated with meat avoidance, and Victoria aims to find if there is a window of opportunity within adolescence where social stigmas can be minimized.
Since receiving the grant, Victoria has gathered the data from interviews with more than 300 children, and that data is being transcribed and analyzed. Victoria aims to present her findings at various conferences in 2024, and has discussed her research as part of a series of videos documenting sustainability and research at Lancaster University.