Relationships between Pet Ownership and Self-Esteem, Social Sensitivity, and Interpersonal Trust

Abstract

Several theorists ( 5 ) have speculated that owning peu can decrease depression. loneliness, and alienation as well as increase self-esteem, empathy, and unselfishness' because pets provide both unconditional affection and a sense of responsibility. While some studies ( 4 ) support this view, others (1) indicate that pet owners show greater liking for pets than for other people. Because much of the work in this area has involved elderly persons, this study explored differences between college-age pet owners and current non-per owners on self-esteem, social sensitivity, and interpersonal trust. It was hypothesized that pet owners would score higher than non-pet owners on self-esteem and social sensitivity. Differences regarding interpersonal trust were explored. Subjects were 30 male and 30 female pet owners (mean age = 21.1 yr.) and 30 male and 30 female non-pet owners (mean age = 20.0 yr.) who were students in an introductory psychology course. Subjects, in groups of 3 to 13, were administered the following measures in the order indicated: pet owning status (whether or not a pet was currently owned), the Tennessee Self-concept Scale ( Z ) , Hogan's ( 3 ) Empathy Scale, and Rotter's ( 6 ) Interpersonal Trust Scale. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance yielded a marginally significant effect for pet ownership (F3.m = 2.29, P = .08). Univariate analyses of variance indicated char the multivariate effect was due to differences between the two per ownership groups on empathy (K,m = 3.56, p = .06) and interpersonal trust (F1.111 = 3.68, p = .05). On both variables, pet owners tended to have higher scores. Differences on self-esteem were nonsignificant. The finding that college-age pet ownen tended to have higher empathy and inter4 personal trust scores than non-pet owners supports research which indicates that pet ownership is beneficial. Given the design of this study, no statements can be made abour the causal relation between per ownership and empathy and interpersonal trust. Perhaps these variables are reciprocally related. Finally, stronger effects for pet ownership might be obtained if non-pet owners were further classified. Questions from the current sample of non-pet owners indicate that it might be useful to divide non-pet owners into those who have never owned a pet and probably never will and those who have previously owned a pet but currently do not.