Autism, pets, and the importance of seeing human

Abstract

People often see the human in the nonhuman, a process called anthropomorphism. Anthropomorphism is particularly prolific regarding the humanization of pets. Some research suggests that people with autism may not anthropomorphize to the same degree as neurotypicals. In this study, we explored whether there were differences in how autistic and neurotypical pet owners anthropomorphized their pets. We also examined differences in levels of connectedness to nature and experiences of loneliness and how this corresponded to autistic traits in the entire sample. We found anthropomorphism was as common among autistic pet owners as in neurotypicals. However, autistic pet owners reported greater loneliness and were more likely to substitute pets for people. We also found that neurotypical pet owners rated pets more highly on physical, non‐anthropomorphic traits (i.e., muscular, active). In contrast, autistic pet owners were likelier to rate pets equally between physical and anthropomorphic traits. Moreover, we found that anthropomorphism and connection to nature were positively correlated with autistic traits. These findings challenge accounts stating that individuals with autism may not anthropomorphize to the same degree as neurotypicals. Implications for animal‐based interventions supporting adults on the spectrum are discussed.

Differential relationships between autistic traits and anthropomorphic tendencies in adults and early adolescents

“…Consistent with this hypothesis, Caruana et al (2021) found that greater loneliness was associated with greater anthropomorphic tendencies in a sample of autistic adults, but they did not include non-autistic controls or assess autistic traits in this sample. Similarly, Atherton et al (2023) found that autistic individuals endorsed a higher proportion of anthropomorphic versus physical descriptions of their pets than neurotypical individuals, but they did not examine this association after controlling for loneliness. Hence, it is unclear from these studies whether the association between autistic traits and anthropomorphism can solely be accounted for by loneliness, or conversely, whether autistic traits and loneliness may, at least in part, independently contribute to anthropomorphism.…”

“…More recent studies have directly measured anthropomorphism using self-report questionnaires, which consistently show increased anthropomorphic tendencies in adults with ASC ( White and Remington, 2019 ; Atherton et al, 2023 ) or high levels of autistic traits ( Tahiroglu and Taylor, 2019 ; Caruana et al, 2021 ; Clutterbuck et al, 2022 ). However, it is unclear what drives this association.…”

Data_Sheet_1.docx

“…Consistent with this hypothesis, Caruana et al (2021) found that greater loneliness was associated with greater anthropomorphic tendencies in a sample of autistic adults, but they did not include non-autistic controls or assess autistic traits in this sample. Similarly, Atherton et al (2023) found that autistic individuals endorsed a higher proportion of anthropomorphic versus physical descriptions of their pets than neurotypical individuals, but they did not examine this association after controlling for loneliness. Hence, it is unclear from these studies whether the association between autistic traits and anthropomorphism can solely be accounted for by loneliness, or conversely, whether autistic traits and loneliness may, at least in part, independently contribute to anthropomorphism.…”

“…More recent studies have directly measured anthropomorphism using self-report questionnaires, which consistently show increased anthropomorphic tendencies in adults with ASC (White and Remington, 2019;Atherton et al, 2023) or high levels of autistic traits (Tahiroglu and Taylor, 2019;Caruana et al, 2021;Clutterbuck et al, 2022). However, it is unclear what drives this association.…”