Perception of Animals and Cardiovascular Responses During Verbalization With an Animal Present

Abstract

AbstractThe presence of animals has been associated with decreased physiological responses to stressors. Not all individuals respond equally to the presence of friendly animals. The current study was designed to examine whether attitudes toward animals are related to individuals' physiological responses when an animal is present. The relationship of individuals' perceptions of animals to their blood pressure and heart rate responses during verbalization in the presence of a dog were examined among urban college students (n=218). Lockwood's projective Animal Thematic Apperception Test (ATAT) was used to assess subjects' attitudes toward animals and people in scenes containing animals and identical scenes without animals. The significant period by perception interactions in analyses of variance with repeated measures revealed that cardiovascular responses to verbalization with an animal present were significantly lower for individuals who perceived scenes with animals more positively than for individuals wh...