Ostendorf, Lucie Anna (2023) Pet Psychology: What Influence do Cats and Dogs have on our Feelings Towards Strangers? Bachelor thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
By conducting this study, we wanted to find out whether we can be socially influenced by cats and dogs. This idea was tested in a vignette-based study with a sample of 462 first year psychology students and participants from the environment of the researchers. Participants were exposed to two scenarios involving an apartment viewing in which either their (imaginary) cat or dog first reacted negatively (security domain) and second positively (judgement domain) to one of two strangers. After the participants read about the pet’s reaction in the Security scenario, they were asked to indicate their Liking and Roommate Preference of both strangers. This was repeated for the Judgement scenario. Furthermore, participants were assessed on the likelihood to self-categorise with their pet and their stereotypes about both cats and dogs. It was hypothesised that in the Security scenario, the dog’s reaction (due to being a pack animal with strong ingroup solidarity) would be more influential than a cat’s reaction. Next, it was hypothesised that in the Judgement scenario, the cat’s reaction (as a stereotypical choosy and independent animal) would be more influential than a dog’s reaction. Lastly, it was hypothesised that participants who genuinely owned the respective pet would be more strongly influenced by their pet’s reaction. The results indicated that dogs overall had a stronger influence on the feelings towards strangers than cats do. Moreover, we found that pet-owners were influenced more by the negative reaction of the pet than non-owners. Lastly, the results showed that participants were more likely to feel like being part of the same team with a dog, than they would with a cat.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Supervisor name: | Spears, R. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | None [Bachelor Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 21 Mar 2023 08:23 |
| Last Modified: | 21 Mar 2023 08:23 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/1818 |
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