Abstract
The function of jealous behaviour is to facilitate the maintenance of an important social relationship that is threatened by a third-party, a rival individual. Although jealous behaviour has an important function in gregarious species, it has been investigated almost exclusively in humans. Based on functional similarity between dog-owner and mother-infant attachments, we hypothesised that jealous behaviour can be evoked in dogs, similarly to children. In our study owners focused their attention solely on the test partner, while they ignored their dog. We deployed familiar and unfamiliar dogs as social test partners, and familiar and unfamiliar objects as non-social test partners; all subjects encountered all test partners. Dogs showed more jealous behaviour, i.e. owner-oriented behaviour and attempts to separate the owner and test partner in case of social compared to non-social test partners. Results suggest that jealous behaviour emerges in dogs, and it is functionally similar to that in children observed in similar situations. Alternative explanations like territoriality, dominance rank can be excluded.
Highlights
The function of jealous behaviour is to facilitate the maintenance of an important social relationship that is threatened by a third-party, a rival individual
Jealous behaviour emerges when an important social relationship with a valued social partner is threatened by a third-party, a rival individual (e.g.1–3)
Jealous behaviour is thought to be controlled by a secondary emotion (‘jealousy’) and it is highly debated whether (1) it is present in non-human species and (2) the emotional state underlying this behaviour is comparable to that in humans[4]
Summary
The function of jealous behaviour is to facilitate the maintenance of an important social relationship that is threatened by a third-party, a rival individual. Recent research shows that infants younger than one year display jealous behaviour when the mother focuses her attention to a social test partner, a realistic looking doll in most studies[1,8,12,13,14] (but see[15,16] who used children as social test partners). Across studies researchers have suggested that infants and toddlers display behaviour and facial expressions that may be manifestations of jealousy[1,8,12,13,14] (for a review see[2]) These behaviours include closer proximity to, more approach of, increased gaze toward, and more touch of the mother in the presence of a social test partner compared to a non-social test partner. Test partner term, as we cannot be sure whether subjects (human infants and toddlers, and non-human species; see below) consider these agents as rivals per se
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