Folder for flipbook stats test

Journal of European Psychology Students, Vol. 3, 2012 15 Attachment to Pets and Interpersonal Relationships Iris Smolkovic, Mateja Fajfar & Vesna Mlinaric University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Contact: iris.smolkovic@gmail.com Abstract The goal of the present research is to investigate pet attachment and measure the connection between owner-pet attachment and interpersonal attachment characteristics of dog owners and cat owners, social support and loneliness. From a sample of 268 dog and 97 cat owners, significant differences on pet attachment appeared between pet owners' gender, owners living location, kinds of pets and the length of ownership. The pedigree of pets influenced owner-pet attachment levels. Keywords: attachment, pets, social support, loneliness, relationship Introduction Investigating connections between attachment to pets and interpersonal relationships is important for establishing a potential mediating role of pets in interpersonal relationships. Evidence suggests that there are psychological, physical and social benefits in human-pet relationships, especially for cat and dog owners. Hirschman (1994) discovered that individuals decide to own animals as companions to satisfy their social needs. Pets can act as friends, exhibiting unconditional and nonjudgmental fondness for their owners (Hill, Gaines, & Wilson, 2008). This study focuses on the link between attachment to pets, attachment to people, social support and loneliness. Attachment to people and animals Attachment to people is often described in Bowlby‟s theory (1991) that assumes individuals have mental working models of both themselves and others. Fraley, Waller, and Brennan (2000) identified two dimensions of attachment, one dimension dealing with anxiety in relationships (connected with the inner working model of oneself), and the other dealing with avoidance in relationships (connected with the inner working model of others). There have been assumptions about the human-animal bond having similar qualities as interpersonal relationships. Rynearson‟s (1978) study showed that humans and pets can be significant attachment figures for one another. The human-pet relationship can be simple and safe, with minimal risk (Nebbe, 2001). A pet can be accepting, openly affectionate, honest, loyal and consistent, which are all qualities that can satisfy a person‟s basic need to be loved and feel self- worth (Nebbe, 2001). Crawford, Worsham, and Swinehart (2006) propose that the term "attachment", used to measure human- companion animal relationships in their research, may share attributes of the traditional attachment theory (Bowlby, 1984), yet fails to reflect the attachment theory comprehensively. Despite instrumental

• Cover