Parallels in the interactive effect of highly sensitive personality and social factors on behaviour problems in dogs and humans

Maya Bräm Dubé,Luca Melotti,Hanno Würbel,Stefanie Riemer,Lucy Asher

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-62094-9

Maya Bräm Dubé, Luca Melotti + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-62094-9

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Abstract

Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) is a personality trait in humans characterised by a tendency to process information deeply, to be easily overstimulated, and to have strong emotional responses and an enhanced sensitivity to subtle stimuli. A trait similar to SPS has recently been identified in dogs (“canine Sensory Processing Sensitivity”, cSPS). In children, this trait interacts with parenting factors to influence emotional and mental development, which in turn are linked to behaviour problems. Paralleling these findings in humans, we demonstrate that cSPS interacts with owner personality and use of aversive communication to influence the likelihood of behaviour problems in dogs. More behaviour problems were reported for more highly sensitive dogs per se, when there was a relative mismatch between owner and dog personality, and when use of “negative punishment” was reported. These findings indicate that a dog’s personality might moderate how an individual is affected by environmental factors, particularly owner personality and communication style, emphasising the importance of considering individuality in prevention, development and treatment of behaviour problems in dogs.

Highlights

Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) is a personality trait in humans characterised by a tendency to process information deeply, to be overstimulated, and to have strong emotional responses and an enhanced sensitivity to subtle stimuli
There is data to date supporting a positive correlation between the use of aversive communication styles and the occurrence of behaviour problems, both in humans[17,18,19] and in dogs[20,21,22,23,24,25]
Using validated questionnaires to assess the SPS trait in humans and the canine Sensory Processing Sensitivity (cSPS) trait in dogs, this study demonstrates that personalities interact within a species, but potentially across species between dog and human, to affect the likelihood of behaviour problems

Summary

Introduction

Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) is a personality trait in humans characterised by a tendency to process information deeply, to be overstimulated, and to have strong emotional responses and an enhanced sensitivity to subtle stimuli. A trait similar to SPS has recently been identified in dogs (“canine Sensory Processing Sensitivity”, cSPS) In children, this trait interacts with parenting factors to influence emotional and mental development, which in turn are linked to behaviour problems. This trait interacts with parenting factors to influence emotional and mental development, which in turn are linked to behaviour problems Paralleling these findings in humans, we demonstrate that cSPS interacts with owner personality and use of aversive communication to influence the likelihood of behaviour problems in dogs. Dogs owned by owners scoring high on neuroticism are more likely to suffer from separation-related problems[14] Another important environmental factor that affects behaviour is how information is conveyed from one individual to the other, which we refer to as “communication style”. As more highly sensitive individuals are more overstimulated and react with higher emotionality[3], we might expect that they would be more strongly affected by aversive communication styles

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