When I went vegan, I discovered surprising inner shifts that accompanied this journey, including a greater sense of peace, freedom, meaning, fulfillment, and authenticity. Being vegan aligned me with core values I had always held: compassion and kindness, wanting to lessen suffering, and caring for animals and our natural world.

The peace and freedom that I found through living my vegan values is shared by many other vegans. When I surveyed and interviewed vegans for my book, The Vegan Transformation: A Journey to Heal Yourself and the World, I asked how veganism has contributed to their emotional well-being. The most common response was: “Being true to my inner convictions and values.”

Survey respondents expressed that through living a vegan lifestyle, they felt aligned with core values, morals, and ethics that mattered deeply to them, such as kindness, compassion for animals, healthy living, and caring for the planet. This led to a cascade of positive outcomes, including greater peace, confidence, integrity, satisfaction, and purpose, as reflected in these survey responses:

• “[I feel] greater internal peace and sense of harmony arising from living in a manner that more fully aligns with my values of compassion and respect for all.”
• “I adore that my life is making the least impact possible in a world where we are faced with constant decisions. I find peace that my lifestyle is positive for the animals, the environment, and my health.”
• “Knowing that I am living according to my values. I feel like I found something that connected a lot of dots for me. . .and a lot of causes that were always near to my heart.”
• “There is a weight off my shoulders to be no longer involved in animal cruelty—although I didn’t know that weight was on my shoulders until it lifted.”
• “There is an incredible sense of confidence and inner peace knowing that you are living in line with your true values. I have never felt so healthy and true to myself. This feels like I am my authentic self for the first time in my life.”

What are values and why do they matter?

Our core values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide our attitudes and choices. They serve as a moral compass, helping us discern what is important to us and how to act accordingly. They describe the personal qualities we choose to embody and the kind of person we want to be. They guide how we treat ourselves and others, and show us how to be authentic, so that we act in ways that reflect what really matters to us.

Knowing what your values are, what you believe, and what matters to you can help to make decisions that are best for you. We tend to be healthier psychologically when our thoughts, feelings, and goals are in alignment with our values. Living in alignment with our values can lead to greater fulfillment, self-worth, and sense of purpose.

Yet, many of us haven’t taken the time to reflect on or define our core values, much less determine if we are living in alignment with them. And it can take courage to follow our values when they require us to stand up to peer pressure or societal “norms” and expectations.

In my many years as a psychologist, I have found that being out of touch (and out of sync) with our values is a major contributor to the emotional malaise and existential distress that many of us face.

Cognitive dissonance

When we act in ways that do not match our values, and we become aware of this inner inconsistency, we may experience what is called cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort that comes from holding two or more conflicting beliefs, attitudes, or values, or behaving in ways that are not in sync with our personal values. This misalignment between our beliefs and behaviors can contribute to an inner conflict that is uncomfortable or downright distressing.

The tension and stress of cognitive dissonance is heightened depending on the level of disparity between our beliefs and actions, and how much the conflicting beliefs or values matter to us. It can be especially distressing when we are out of alignment with values that are central to our moral compass or our identity. When we act against our core principles, we may feel shame or guilt, or inwardly question our “goodness” or integrity.

The discomfort of cognitive dissonance usually leads to one of the following choices: We change our behaviors so that they better match our values, or we alter our perceptions to lessen the inner conflict and associated discomfort. This can occur through changing our values, so that they match our behaviors, or perhaps more commonly, through shifting our perceptions to obscure any contradictions between our values and behaviors.

The cognitive dissonance of eating meat

Most of us have compassion for animals and hate to see cruelty, suffering, or neglect. We adore our companion animals, may enjoy watching birds and wildlife, and are deeply distressed when we see an injured or suffering animal.

However, we are conditioned from a young age to view farmed animals who are raised for meat differently from other animals, even though they too are sentient beings. We turn a blind eye, looking away from the inhumane living conditions, the cruel practices that are routine in animal agriculture, and the violence of the slaughter process. (I won’t go into those details here, but to learn more, I recommend reading Food Revolution by John Robbins or Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, or others listed on my resource list.)

How do we make sense of this disconnect between our concern for the well-being of animals—and the reality that billions of them are bred, raised, and slaughtered each year for human consumption, in ways that would horrify the average person if we looked more closely? This inner conflict between our caring for animals and yet eating a diet that contributes to the suffering and death of many animals has been called The Meat Paradox, a term first coined by Dr. Steve Loughnan and colleagues.

The contributing factors to this disconnect are complex, including our social conditioning that normalizes eating animal products; the invisibility of factory farming and slaughterhouses; agribusiness advertising and lobbying; family and social traditions centering around certain foods; our food habits and cravings; and our psychological tendencies to compartmentalize and to dissociate from disturbing information. (To learn more about the social psychology behind these factors, I recommend Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows by Dr. Melanie Joy.)

Benefits of aligning with vegan values

For many vegans, there is an awakening that leads them to shift to a vegan lifestyle, whether it is something they learned through a program or article, a personal health crisis, or an unexpected experience that opened their eyes. (I share about my vegan awakening in this article). For some people that shift happens overnight. For others, it’s a lengthier process that emerges over time. Whether the change was immediate or took time to unfold, my research participants found that aligning with their values through a vegan lifestyle brought a cascade of positive inner changes, such as greater peace, confidence, integrity, freedom, fulfillment, meaning, and harmony.

If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.

– Paul McCartney

Aligning our daily actions with our core values – in terms of how we treat ourselves, others, and the world around us – is emotionally and spiritually healing.

Below are a few reflection exercises to help you explore your values – and to move toward greater alignment.

Journal questions to reflect on:

• What matters most to you? What do you want in life, for yourself and others?
• Consider past experiences when you were being most true to yourself. What values were represented in those experiences?
• Consider past experiences when you were very upset about something. What values were being impacted?
• What kind of person do you aspire to be? What qualities do you want to be known for?
• Consider traits of people you highly respect. What values do they demonstrate?
• Check out a core values list. Which values are most important to you? Then, narrow your list down to the top 3-5 values.

How do your purchasing and food choices reflect your values?

Most of us are unaware of the connections between our values and what we consume, because we rarely see the process by which our food or other items are produced. To learn more about the ethical and environmental impact of your purchases, review guides offered by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Humane World for Animals (formerly Humane Society), or Environmental Working Group (EWG). Set an action plan based on what you discover.

Consider the definition of veganism below. How does this definition of veganism fit with YOUR core values? What is one step you can take toward greater alignment?

Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans, and the environment. In dietary terms, it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.

– The Vegan Society

Exploring our values, and aligning our behaviors with them, is an ongoing process. Continuing to check in with our values, and refine our choices to be even more aligned, can help us to create a healthy, fulfilling, and authentic life. When we cultivate the courage to honor vegan values – making compassionate choices that cause the least harm possible for sentient beings and for our planet – it creates positive ripples for our own mind-heart-spirit wellness – and spreads a little more hope, healing, and kindness in our world.

This article was adapted from my book, The Vegan Transformation: A Journey to Heal Yourself and the World (chapter Two, “The Courage to Live Your Values”).