“Furry tales”: pet ownership’s influence on subjective well-being during Covid-19 times

Abstract

The social distancing required during Covid-19 times tended to make people feel lonelier than usual. Those with pets might, however, have experienced this less, because pets are known for fostering their owners’ subjective well-being. Building on a recently published structural equation model, our study enhances the understanding of subjective well-being by including the construct social distancing during Covid-19 times. In order to answer our research question—How does human-pet relationship need support influence subjective well-being by considering social isolation during Covid-19 times?—we build on the basic needs theory, assuming that humans as well as their pets have an inherent need of autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Using a multivariate data analysis method, namely partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), we establish a path model and examine the relationship between human-pet relationship need support and subjective well-being by including psychological distress and social isolation during Covid-19 times as mediators. We operationalize subjective well-being as a three-dimensional construct consisting of positive affect, happiness, and life satisfaction. In a sample of 215 pet owners in the USA, supporting their need increases subjective well-being, and decreases the psychological distress and loneliness caused by social isolation during Covid-19 times. Furthermore, psychological distress decreases subjective well-being, whereas perceived loneliness during Covid-19 times does not. Our main contributions are to not only enhance our knowledge on the importance of human-pet relationships in critical times, but also to provide policy makers with insights into what influences people’s subjective well-being, which is closely related to their psychological health.

A conditional time-varying multivariate latent growth curve model for the relationships between academics’ servant leadership behavior, affective commitment, and job performance during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…The global experience and diverse aspects included distinguish the Covid-19 pandemic from crises we have known so far (Mihalache & Mihalache 2022 ). Social distancing, despite its impact on peoples’ subjective well-being (Damberg and Frömbling 2021 ), was encouraged by government policies with respect to lockdowns and working from home in many countries (Kumar et al 2021 ). Wang et al ( 2020 ), for example, found that psychological isolation, not physical isolation, adversely affects the emotional relationship of employees to their organizations.…”

The Well-Being of Companion Animal Caregivers and Their Companion Animals during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Scoping Review

“…Seven studies found no association between animal companionship and depression [85,111,112,116,136,173,185]. One study found animal caregivers had significantly lower levels of distress [100], but three studies found caregivers had significantly greater stress [101,147,151]; in one study [101], this association was found in univariate analysis only, and in another [151] this association was for cat caregivers only. A further six studies found no association between animal companionship and stress [111,112,116,151,173,185].…”

“…Lower isolation: Damberg and Frömbling [100]; Hart et al [114] (dogs only); van der Velpen et al [180] --…”

A System for Monitoring Animals Based on Behavioral Information and Internal State Information

“…In the current period of reduced social interaction because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19), pet ownership may be helpful for improving quality of life. Pet ownership has been reported to have positive benefits, such as reducing psychological distress caused by loneliness [1] and improving health [2]. The pet population in the US is around 157 million, and the number of pet owners has increased in recent years because of increased income [3] and the greater proportion of time spent at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.…”