How Japanese companion dog and cat owners’ degree of attachment relates to the attribution of emotions to their animals

Abstract

Recently, studies in the United States and European countries have shown that the degree of attachment is associated with the attribution of emotions to companion animals. These studies imply that investigating the degree of attachment to companion animals is a good way for researchers to explore animal emotions and then improve animal welfare. Although a promising area of study, in Japan, no empirical studies have examined the correlation between the degree of attachment and the attribution of emotions to companion animals. In this research, we aimed to assess companion animal owners’ attribution of six primary (anger, joy, sadness, disgust, fear and surprise) and four secondary (shame, jealousy, disappointment and compassion) emotions to their dogs and cats, as well as how the degree of attachment related to such attribution of emotions from a Japanese cultural perspective. The “Pet Bonding Scale” (PBS), which is used to determine the level of bonding between humans and animals, was introduced to measure respondents’ degree of attachment to their companion animals. The results of a questionnaire (N = 546) distributed throughout Japan showed that respondents attributed a wide range of emotions to their animals. Companion animals’ primary emotions, compared to secondary emotions, were more commonly attributed by their owners. The attribution of compassion and jealousy was reported at a high level (73.1% and 56.2%, respectively), which was surprising as compassion and jealousy are generally defined as secondary emotions. All participants were highly attached to their companion animals, and this attachment was positively associated with the attribution of emotions (9/10) to companion animals (all p < 0.05). This study is one of the first to investigate animal emotions by analyzing the bonding between companion animals and owners in Japan, and it can therefore provide knowledge to increase Japanese people’s awareness of animal welfare.

Generating consumer terminology to describe emotions in pet owners and their pets

“…These emotion terms may be more efficient at communicating with pet owners because they resonate among the owners. A resemblance of the terms between pet owners and pets was found in this study, which could be a result of anthropomorphism as discussed in other studies (Arahori et al, 2017;Konok et al, 2015;Martens et al, 2016;Morris et al, 2008;Su et al, 2018). Pet owners were able to read signs/body languages of their cats and dogs related to positive/negative emotions, in which the interpretation was consistent with previous studies (Crowell-Davis, 2007;Tami & Gallagher, 2009;Turner, 2017).…”

An Exploration of Attitudes toward Dogs among College Students in Bangalore, India

“…Singh [37] provides evidence that the nuclear family has arrived as the dominant form of familial residence, particularly in urban centers where education and occupational specialization thrive. If the SDT in India follows trends seen in other cultures [7,8,11,13,18,19,20], the attitudes our respondents displayed toward pet dogs may suggest that upcoming generations may preference pets and personal authenticity over familial expectations of marriage and large families, at least in the higher socioeconomic groups.…”

“…Based upon our observations of where, and when, pet keeping and pet parenting practices develop, the SDT serves as a catalyst to move pet dogs into the higher affect , moderate utility quadrant of Serpell’s model. South Korea [18], Japan [19], and China [20] are each showing signs of embracing pet dogs in this way.…”

Humans’ pupillary contagion extends to cats and dogs

“…The findings did, however, indicate that the pupillary contagion response does occur to animal images and in particular, animals that are the most common type of pets. Pets are important to many people, and research into the relationships between people and their pets can provide a greater understanding of the complexities underlying these relationships and it might contribute to the understanding of people’s perception and treatment of animals ( Alba and Haslam, 2015 ; Su et al , 2018 ). A recent study has revealed that people are sensitive to cats’ affective states from subtle facial cues ( Dawson et al , 2019 ).…”