Exploring narcissism and human- and animal-centered empathy in pet owners

Abstract

Having empathy for others is typically generalized to having empathy for animals. However, empathy for humans and for animals are only weakly correlated. Thus, some individuals may have low human-centered empathy but have high animal-centered empathy. Here, we explore whether pet owners who are high in narcissism display empathy towards animals despite their low human-centered empathy. We assessed pet owners’ (N = 259) three components of trait narcissism (Agentic Extraversion, Antagonism, and Narcissistic Neuroticism), human- and animal-centered empathy, attitudes towards animals, and their pet attachment. We found that Agentic Extraversion was unrelated to both human- and animal-centered empathy. We also found that Antagonism was related to less empathy for both humans and animals, as well as more negative attitudes towards animals. Lastly, we found that Narcissistic Neuroticism was unrelated to human-centered empathy and positively related to animal-centered empathy and attitudes towards animals. This research furthers our understanding of the relation between empathy towards humans and animals and provides insight into whether animal-assisted approaches may be useful for empathy training in those with narcissistic characteristics.

Hayvanlara Yönelik Empati Ölçeği Kısa Formunun Geliştirilmesi

“…Nevertheless, personality traits associated with animal-and human-oriented empathy may also vary. A personality trait that is negative in terms of the quality of interpersonal relationships (narcissistic neuroticism) has been linked positively with animal-oriented empathy but not with human-oriented empathy (Giacomin et al 2023). In another study, as with human-oriented empathy (de Wied et al 2012), those with psychopathic traits were expected to have lower empathy for animals than non-psychopaths.…”

“…The direction of the relationships is positive, with increasing beliefs in human-animal similarities and mental competence of animals (Hills 1995, Rothgerber andMican 2014), ethical approach to human-animal relationships (being vegan, vegetarian) (Filippi et al 2010) and gender (being female) (Apostol et al 2013), but negatively with variables such as cultural norms favoring human-animal distinctions (Prato-Previde et al 2022), negative experiences with animals (e.g., animal abuse) (Pagani et al 2007), and level of interpersonal aggression (Figueredo et al 2022). Although the outlined findings reveal the constructs associated with empathy towards animals, they point to the importance of the topic and suggest that more information is needed (Emauz et al 2016, Wauthier et al 2023, Giacomin et al 2023. Developing appropriate measurement methods and tools is a valid and reliable way to access this information.…”