Cette thèse de doctorat porte sur l’étude de la perception dans le domaine de la religion et de l'alimentation dans deux contextes culturels différents: chinois et français. Dans deux chapitres indépendants, nous avons étudié l'effet de la croyance religieuse sur la perception des cibles religieuses et l'effet du comportement de la consommation de viande sur la perception des animaux. Le chapitre 1 présente une brève introduction à propos de la perception, et le chapitre 2 explore les différences culturelles sur la religiosité et la perception, notamment, la façon dont la croyance religieuse affecte la perception des individus vis-à-vis des dieux et des chrétiens en utilisant un amorçage du paradigme religieux. Les principaux résultats montrent que sur la religiosité, les participants agnostiques chinois étaient plus semblables aux participants religieux chinois, mais les participants agnostiques français étaient plus semblables aux participants athées français. Quant à la perception, les participants agnostiques chinois étaient plus semblables aux participants religieux chinois, mais pour les participants français, les athées, les agnostiques et les religieux étaient différents les uns des autres. Quand des concepts liés aux dieux sont amorcées, la perception des dieux est attribuée davantage à la dimension agence dans l'échantillon chinois, mais non pas dans l'échantillon français. Les participants religieux chinois ont attribué davantage la perception des dieux sur la dimension agence que les athées chinois. Les participants religieux et agnostiques français attribuent davantage la perception des dieux à la fois sur la dimension agence et sur la dimension expérience que les athées français. Cependant, l'objectif chrétien est moins attribué à l'esprit par les participants athées chinois, et plus par les participants religieux chinois sur la dimension de l'expérience, lorsque les concepts de Dieu connexes sont amorcés. Dans l'échantillon français, l'amorçage religieux n'a aucun effet sur l'attribution de l’esprit à la cible chrétienne, mais les participants religieux attribuent davantage l'esprit à la cible chrétienne que à l'objectif control, et les participants agnostiques attribuent davantage l'esprit à la cible chrétienne qu’à la cible athée. Le chapitre 3 traite la question de savoir si des rappels du paradoxe de la viande vont influencer la réduction de la volonté de manger de la viande et/ou de l'attribution de l’esprit à des animaux. Les résultats suggèrent que lorsque le lien entre la viande et son origine animale est relativement claire et forte, à la fois les participants français et les participants chinois déclarent une grande volonté de manger de la viande dans un état qui met l'accent sur la viande elle-même, et une volonté faible dans un état qui met l'accent sur l'abattage de la production viande. Les participants français accordent moins d'esprit à un animal comme nourriture quand ils ont établi le lien entre la viande et son origine animale, alors que les participants chinois ne le font pas. Lorsque le lien est relativement vague et faible, le paradoxe de la viande n'a pas d'effets significatifs sur la réduction de l'attribution de l’esprit à des animaux chez les participants chinois et français, mais permet de comprendre pourquoi les chinois déclarent une volonté plus faible de manger de la viande dans un état qui met l'accent sur l’origine animale de la viande. Enfin, le chapitre 4 traite des implications théoriques et pratiques de nos résultats empiriques. / This doctoral dissertation focuses on mind perception in the field of religion and diet in two different cultural contexts: Chinese and French. In two independent chapters, it investigates the effect of religious belief on mind perception concerning religious targets and the effect of meat-eating behavior on mind perception concerning food animals. Following a brief introduction of mind perception in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 explores cross-cultural differences in religiosity and mind perception and how religious belief affects people’s mind perception of gods and Christians using a religious priming paradigm. The main results reveal that on religiosity, Chinese agnostic participants were more similar to Chinese religious participants, but French agnostic participants were more similar to French atheist participants; on mind perception of gods, Chinese agnostic participants were more similar to Chinese religious participants, but French atheist, agnostic and religious participants were different from each other. When God-related concepts are primed, gods are attributed more mind on the agency-dimension in the Chinese sample, but not in the French sample. The Chinese religious participants attributed more mind to gods on the agency-dimension than the Chinese atheist ones. The French religious and agnostic participants attributed more mind to gods on both the agency-dimension and the experience-dimension than French atheist ones. However, the Christian target is attributed less mind by the Chinese atheist participants, and more mind by the Chinese religious participants on the experience dimension, when God-related concepts are primed. In the French sample, religious priming has no effect on mind attribution to the Christian target, but religious participants attribute more mind to the Christian target than to the Control target, and agnostic participants attribute more mind to the Christian target than to the atheist target. Chapter 3 addresses the question of whether reminders of the meat paradox will influence reduction of willingness to eat meat and/or mind attribution to food animals. The results suggest that when the link between meat and its animal origin is relatively clear and strong, both French and Chinese participants report high willingness to eat meat in a condition that emphasizes meat itself, and low willingness in a condition that emphasizes the slaughter required to produce meat. French participants attribute less mind to a food animal when they realize the link between meat and its animal origin, but Chinese participants do not. When the link is relatively vague and weak, the meat paradox does not have significant effects on the reduction of mind attribution to food animals among Chinese and French participants, but makes Chinese participants report lower willingness to eat meat in a condition that emphasizes the animal origin of meat. Finally, Chapter 4 discusses the theoretical and practical implications of our empirical findings.

From our earliest days of childhood, our exposure to certain species is confusing and contradictory, with animals like the beloved characters who fill our storybooks moulded into unrecognisable shapes and served up to us in deceptively happy packaging. With a recognition of this cognitive dissonance as a starting point, this report seeks to highlight the inconsistency of teaching children to love and respect animals whilst at the same time to accept the eating and usage of them.  Whilst the topic of animal farming is finally beginning to be taken seriously in conversations about environmental sustainability, its ethical implications for both humans and nonhumans remain massively overlooked. My project aims to bring the conversation about animal rights to the forefront of our moral considerations with childhood education as an entry point.  In collaboration with a primary school class (ages 9-11) and an animal sanctuary, I ran a three-part workshop designed to encourage interspecies thinking and provide a space for students to critically evaluate mainstream attitudes and assumptions towards nonhuman animals and, by extension, to question current norms surrounding animal use and consumption.

The diploma thesis deals with the paradox that arises based on a conflict of actions and opinions on the consumption of animal products. The aim of the work was to reveal the social factors that cause this discrepancy, assuming that social factors play an important role. This assumption is based on the consideration of meat as a social construct rooted in culture, and thus the consumption of meat is examined in this paper not as an individual decision but as a result of the influences of different institutions and social structures. This paradox is being studied on ecologically active individuals, and it is assumed that in this case the discrepancy between opinions on animal products and actual behaviour will be even more pronounced. The conclusion of the work reveals as one of the most important factors family and traditions, which cause that individuals are afraid of exclusion from the social group of the family and at the same time they want to be true to traditions. Respondents often preferred to conform to members of the groups to which they belong or to culture and traditions. The work also deals with the guilt caused by this discrepancy, taking into account the impact of ecology as an external factor.