Relations: Humans And Pets by Cynthia Agustin
PERSONALITY AND PETS: RELATIONS BETWEEN HUMANS AND PETS
Cynthia Agustin
Psychology of Personality - 260
Dr. Leon James
June 22, 1994
Introduction
How library research was done
UH-CARL
CD-ROM
Problems faced doing library research
Suggestions on how to go about doing library research
Defining personality
Do Animals/Pets have a Personality?
Human influence on animals
Pets unique personality
The Relation Between Owners and Pets in their Personality
Pets that are appropriate to their owners personality
A mirror image of personalities
Communication between owners and pets
How Animal Personality Differs from Human Personality
Some Functions Pets Serve for Humans
Animals as companions
Animals as a form of food
Animals as a form of transportation
Animals as a status symbol or rate exchange
Pets As Therapists
Animal and human relationship
Pets and health
Pets as companions
Personality Concepts that Applies to Personality and Pets
Overview of Research
Letter to the Reader
Letter to Dr. James
Glossary
References
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After reading various articles and books, I too agree with
the evidence that pets do have a personality. Though I agree that
pets and their owners personalities do relate to one another, it
is clear that pets have their own unique personality as well.
Evidence has also shown that the personality of pets serves people
in various ways.
The topics chosen for this research have been gathered from
information found in books, journal articles, and magazines.
Questions such as "Do pets have a personality?", "Is there a
relation between owners and pets in their personality?", "How are
animal personality different from human personality?", " and "What
personality concepts can be applied to the personality of pets?"
have all been answered in this research paper.
INTRODUCTION
Americans own more than 1.2 trillion pet creatures - dogs,
cats, birds, fishes, horses, reptiles, and small mammals (Beck &
Katcher, 1983, 9). Samuelson (1986, 61) has stated that 50
million cats, 49 million dogs, 10 million birds, 7 million horses,
6 million rabbits, and 1 million hamsters are owned by 60% of
households in America. Samuelson (1986, 61) also claimed that it
is a mystery on the amount of fishes Americans own as pets. Can
you imagine the amount of money Americans spend to care for their
pets? Americans must be spending around $13 billion to $16
billion a year on food and pet accessories such as leashes,
collars, and cages. Yet the nature of the relationship of people
to their pets and the benefits that people derive from pet
ownership have been little studied.
HOW THE LIBRARY RESEARCH WAS DONE
The research on pets and their personality and how they
influence and interact with humans wasn't an easy one. The topic
was such a broad field, but to reduce it, the information would
have been too limiting.
UH-CARL
The first thing that had to be done was to go and visit the
librarian at Hamilton Library on the University of Hawaii campus.
I explained the topic of my research paper to the librarian and
were informed that there were some information on the topic. The
librarian directed me to the UH CARL computer terminals to start
my research under one of the databases named ERIC. This database
has information of journal articles nationwide. Under the
subheading EXPANDED ACADEMIC INDEX, I spent over an hour typing in
word phrases to help locate some journal articles. Some of these
phrases were as follows: animal - human personality, pet-owner
relationship, pets and owners, and animal behavior. With these
word phrases I found fifteen journal articles. The next step was
to go back to the main menu in UH CARL to another database called
UNCOVER. In this database, I typed in the title of the journal
article in order to see if the journal was located in the library.
To my disappointment I found only nine out of fifteen journal
articles. I then gathered all the information needed to find the
articles such as the call number, author, title of the journal,
volume number and page number. Finding the articles on the
shelves took a lot of time. If the volume is missing from the
set, the next place to look is at the sorting shelves where most
of the books are not in order by call number. So out of the nine
journals I found in the computer, I found only three articles on
the shelves.
I returned to Hamilton Library the following day and went
into UH CARL's database called UNCOVER, to do more searching. I
entered word phrases such as animal personality and animal - human
bond. Under animal personality I found two journal articles and
under animal - human bond I found nine. Again, I us disappointed
when I went to look for the articles on the shelves where I found
two of the eleven articles.
CD-ROM
On the day our class went to the library to use the CD-ROM
computers, I got most of my research material done there. Under
the database titled READER'S GUIDE ABSTRACTS, I typed in
sub headings such as those follows: pet-owner relationship (I
found no entries), animal-human personality (I found two entries
but the information wasn't relevant to my topic), animal-human
behavior (I found ten entries), pet-owner ( I found five entries),
and pet personality (I found one entry). I then got the book
called the Journal List which is a listing of journal titles and
its' call numbers. When I went to the shelves, I found only four
out of sixteen articles.
Again at the CD-ROM terminals I went into the database called
SOCIAL SCIENCE INDEX. I typed in headings such as pet personality
(I found one entry) and animal-human behavior (I found twenty
entries but only three were relevant). Again, I looked up the
titles of the journals in the Journal List for the call numbers.
When I looked for these articles on the shelves I found one out of
four articles.
I returned to the CD-ROM terminal to the database titled
PSYCHOLOGY LITERATURE INEX. In this database there is a
thesaurus of psychology terms. I looked under the word
personality and I found phrases as follows: personality traits,
personality correlates, social facilitation, and adaptability. I
then looked up the word pets also in the Thesaurus of Psychology.
I found phrases as follows: animal domestication, animal homing,
and interspecies interaction. With these two sets of phrases I
typed in, I found twenty-eight entries under the heading animal
domestication but used only two entries and under the heading
interspecies interactions I found fifteen entries but used only
six entries. With the call numbers I found in the Journal List, I
went to the designated shelves. I didn't find any of the six
articles under the heading interspecies interactions on the
shelves but under the heading animal domestication, I found one
article on the shelves.
PROBLEMS FACED DOING LIBRARY RESEARCH
There were some problems I faced while doing my research at
the Hamilton Library. The first problem I faced was how
unfamiliar many of the databases were to me. I have only used UH
CARL and UNCOER previously. I had no idea on how the CD-ROM
terminals were used and the terminals were down on May 20, 1994.
Everyone also needs to sign up to use the CD-ROM computer for only
a limited time of one hour.
Another problem I ran into was that the UH CARL Wyse
computers shared printers. This is really a hassle because
someone was using the printer continuously when I needed to print
out some information. I ended up writing down the information I
needed, such as the call number of books and articles, causing a
greater chance of an error.
As I mentioned earlier, another obstacle was that many
journal articles I found through ERIC could not be found in the UH
CARL database. I spent an hour on ERIC just to find out Hamilton
Library didn't carry those journals.
Through UH CARL, I found many call numbers for books and
journals that wasn't borrowed. I then went to the second and
third floors and found the books and journals missing from the
shelves. There was actually a whole section of call number SF
411.4 and SF 411.5 missing! If they are not on the designated
shelf, the individual may find them on the sorting shelves where
the books are not kept in any order. The individual will need to
search on every sorting shelf and book cart. This was the most
disappointing problem I had come upon.
SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO GO ABOUT DOING LIBRARY RESEARCH
Here are some suggestions on how not to get into the same
predicaments as I did. First of all, always set a side enough
time to do a thorough research. At least four hours a day for
about 4 days would be sufficient.
Go and use the CD-ROM terminals first, it is easier to use
and they provide a brief summary of journal articles. By having a
summary to read, the individual can decide whether the article is
relevant to the research being done.
Talk to a librarian about the research topic and ask for
suggestions to what databases to use first. Always go for help or
ask questions because the librarian is a good source for
information too. The librarian is there to help everyone.
Everyone needs to come equipped with a pencil, paper/index
cards, and a highlighter. Everyone needs to be organized with
their research so that they do not need to retrace their steps if
they missed any important information such as the page number or
the date. Another reason to be organized is so that one will not
be typing in the same word phrases over and over again. By being
organized, the individual will not be wasting valuable time.
Get ready for some disappointments when looking for sources
in the computer and when looking for the sources around the
library. The best advice I can give is to know when to stop
searching for a source.
Keep a record of all the sources that have not been found so
that one could look for them on another day. Also, keep the
record in alphabetical order so that one will not be going around
the library looking like a chicken with its' head cut off. By
having the record in alphabetical order, the individual will be
able to search one floor thoroughly before heading for the next
floor.
DEFINING PERSONALITY
Personality is hard to define and once a definition have been
determined, it is hard to stay focused on it. According to
Webster's II New Riverside Dictionary (1984, 522), personality is
defined as "the distinctive qualities and traits of an
individual". In the book Introduction To Personality, personality
is defined as "a person's pattern of traits" (Guilford, 1959, 5 in
Mischel, 1993, 5). With these two definitions I have come up with
an overall definition of personality as an individuals'
distinctive qualities and pattern of traits.
DO ANIMALS/PETS HAVE A PERSONALITY?
"Some researchers have said that they have missed many
intriguing aspects of animal reasoning and behavior and ignored
continuities that do in fact exist among species as varied as
humans, monkeys, birds, and dolphins due to the unappreciated
intellectual taboo called anthropomorphism" (Hardigg, 1983, 69-
70). Anthropomorphism is defined as "the ascribing of human
motivation and characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, or
natural phenomena" (Webster's II New Riverside Dictionary, 1984,
32). These researchers are calling for a re-evaluation of
anthropomorphism. Scientists have criticized anthropomorphism in
order to validate the distinction between human beings and the
rest of nature. Even if scientists have criticized
anthropomorphism, many pet owners have been practicing
anthropomorphism for decades.
HUMAN INFLUENCE ON ANIMALS
Humans make an animal into a kind of person, thus an
individual. One such form of anthropomorphism is naming one's
pet. Name-giving is the essence of being an individual and being
a person. Naming an animal affirms its individuality. Snoopy,
Meatball, Tonka, Frisky, and Kiddles are such names pet owners
give their pets. Beck (1983) who wrote the book Between Pets and
People, explains that "Animal names reflect the individuality and
personality of the pet" (41) and "The act of naming implies that
these animals are going to be given special treatment and that
individual attributes or personalities are likely to be claimed
for them" (43). Thus, in giving one's animal a name, one is
attributing personality traits and individualism.
Clothing one's pet converts them into people. Pet clothing
imitates human clothing such as a bikers' black leather wrist band
which can be used as a Dobermans'' collar or rhinestones around a
lady's neck is also worn around her poodle's neck. "There are
also pet boutiques and beauty shops where they sell animal
clothing, pet shampoo's, conditioners, dyes, perfumes, deodorants,
and even nail polish" (Beck, 1983, 49-50). My dog LuLu has a
T-shirt that my mom likes to dress her in that says "Viva Las
Vegas". These animals are treated as consumers and after a day at
the beauty shop, these animals could actually look better than
some of the human beings!
Would anyone believe if I said a cat could have braces if
it's teeth were crooked? According to Samuelson "dogs can have
chemotherapy and cats with crooked teeth can get braces" (1986,
61). There has always been scientific procedures where they do
tests on animals in order to see if humans would be affected to
medicines or to practice surgical procedures on animals before
allowing the procedure to be performed on humans. Previously
there has been a lot of attention on animal testing, but if one
would step back and think about where we all would be if animal
testing was not done, then one will see that it was important to
have done testing on animals. There has been drastic changes in
the way animal testing is being done presently and there are also
companies where they prohibit the testing on animals.
Many owners are treating their pets more like humans at the
dinner table. Many are feeding their pets "human" food. By
feeding an animal "human" food, it transforms the animal
automatically into a companion. "A New York store once sold
frozen portions of specially prepared Boeuf Bourguignon or Sole
Meuniere for dogs and cats" (Beck, 1983, 47). My dog LuLu doesn't
eat dog food. In fact, when we have steak for dinner, my father
cuts a piece of steak into little pieces for LuLu. Lulu's
favorite food is hamburger. LuLu doesn't like pet food anymore
except for an occasional Pedigree. The most surprising
information I found out was that "in France, dogs are actually
invited into restaurants where human children are not welcome"
(Beck, 1983, 48).
Can anyone imagine singing "Happy birthday to you, happy
birthday to you, happy birthday dear Snoopy, happy birthday to
you!"? Or having one's pet at one's wedding as a bridesmaid?
Well these are all true, there are birthday celebrations for pets
with ice-cream and a birthday cake in the shape of an animal.
People also give Christmas presents to their pets and throw a
graduation party for them graduating from obedience school.
There are some negative reasons why human beings should not
attribute human characteristics onto their pets. "Viki Hearne,
animal trainer and author, argues in her forthcoming book Animal
Happiness that although animals and humans can share emotions,
the conditions that inspire them can be quite different. Hearne
also stated that the happiness of animals can be very different in
human terms" (Hardigg, 1983, 70). An example would be my dog LuLu
always enjoys to scratch the carpet around her food dish or my
friends cat chasing the rain drops as they fall down. "Elizabeth
Marshall Thomas of The Hidden Life of Dogs agrees that it is wrong
to impose human values on animals" (Hardigg, 1983, 70). Human
values and animal values are different. A tiger has tiger thoughts
and sometimes those coincide with humans, but it is wrong to think
of a tiger as human with fur and four legs that can't talk just
because there were similar thoughts coinciding.
PETS UNIQUE PERSONALITY
Pets have their own unique personality which was not
influenced by human beings. White (1983, 20-1) explains that pets
are unique because "a pet offers unconditional love, a pet give
the person the chance to associate with a being who doesn't judge,
doesn't argue back, doesn't have prejudices, biases,
preconceptions, and definitions which do not agree with yours, and
best of all pets don't 'tell on you"'. No one will ever find a
human being with all of these characteristics! But along with
these good characteristics comes some not so good ones too. Pets
sometimes soil the carpets, they chew up the furniture, pets
sometimes demands too much attention and caring, they shed hair,
and pets make it difficult to get away for the weekends.
The Relation Between Owners and Pets in their Personality
The two main functions of all plant and animal organisms are
reproduction and serving as food for other organisms. "All
animals are continuously faced with life-threatening diseases,
starvation, competition, and predation" (Howard, 1992, 739). All
organisms are similar when it comes to the functioning of each
species. Human beings differ in only the process called
reasoning. Because of reasoning, human beings are able to think
about what they are doing and reason whether or not to do
anything.
PETS THAT ARE APPROPRIATE TO THEIR OWNERS PERSONALITY
Since people are able to reason, don't you think they are
able to pick pets to suite their own personality? An example of
such a human being would be the plump, middle-aged woman with too
much jewelry and too much make-up who is carrying a toy French
poodle or a Persian cat with bows in their hair and studs on their
collars. How about a bald, fat man with a belly sticking out of
his shirt walking slowly with no worries in the world having a pet
turtle?
Our peculiarities, affections and anxieties are projected
onto our pets. We pamper them when we feel like we neglected them
or we give our pets animal medicine because they are sick. We
also send our pets to pet boutiques to pretty them up and instead
of leaving our pets at home while u go on a vacation, we send
them to a pet hotel.
A MIRROR IMAGE OF PERSONALITIES
Kidd R. feels that "in a compatible person/pet relationship,
the animal's personality mirrors the owner's and vice versa"
(1988, 21). Kidd R. also feels that "you need to look within to
see the kind of person you are" (1988, 21). What Kidd R. is
saying here is that in order to pick the right pet for one's self,
the individual should first look within and see what personality
traits are most vivid in describing the type of personality the
individual has.
Here are some suggestions Kidd R. has in describing the
characteristics an individual should have for a certain type of
animal. "You are a prime dog candidate if you are
affectionate to a fault, if you feel a real need to be
around friends often, and if you tend to be
enthusiastic, and active. You are a cat person if you
enjoy quiet and relaxation, if you like affection but
don't feel a constant need for it. A bird is your best
choice if you are exuberant at times and have a flair
for humor. You are a turtle person if you need to learn
how to calm yourself and become more meditative. A
turtle's unblinking eyes and slow, barely discernible
breathing can be teachers, a mirror into your inner
self" (Kidd R., 1988, 21).
Another author also describes what type of characteristics an
individual should have in order to relate to one's pet. According
to Kidd A.H., author of Personality Characteristics of Horse,
Turtle, Snake, and Bird Owners, "Turtle owners were hard-working,
reliable, and upwardly mobile, considerate, tended to see the
world as lawful, to believe in rational analysis, and were
steadily goal-oriented" (1983, 727). Kidd A.H. explains that
cultural stereotyping may be an explanation to these
characteristics. Like the story of the tortoise, slow-moving but
steadily goal-oriented, who wins the race before the swift but
unsteady hare, exemplifies the turtle owner's characteristics. A
description of a horse owner would be "assertive and
introspective but low in warmth and nurturance. Male owners were
aggressive and dominant while female owners were easy-going and
nonaggressive" (Kidd A.H., 1983, 719). Kidd A.H. took the
psychoanalytic view to explain why male horse owners were more
aggressive than female horse owners. Kidd A.H. explains that the
"horse as a patriarchal father figure" (1983, 727), made it
predictable for males to keep up with this traditional male
symbol. I believe on the other hand that a better explanation
would be cultural stereotyping. The typical Western Cowboy
stereotype as aggressive, dominant, limited in human relationship,
masculine and silent best describes a male horse owner. Isn't it
true that a cowboy's most reliable partner is his horse?
Beck (1983) agrees with Kidd R. (1988) about animals and
humans personality being a mirror image. There has been an
"ancient belief that people and animals can share identity and
change one into the other" (Beck, 1983, 78). Some examples from
literature on history states that there were half-human and half-
animal beings that change from human to animal form. What about
those Egyptian Gods who wore the head of a dog or a hawk on a
human body? There was also the Christian Saint Christopher who
wore the head of a dog. Today there are numerous movies on
vampires, and werewolves being reanimated. Movies like The Crow
and Werewolf are now being played at our local movie theaters. So
the idea of half-human and half-animal beings haven't been
forgotten. What about stories of wild animals raising human
babies? I have watched movies such as Walk Like a Man, The Jungle
Book, and The Legend of Tarzan where all had a common theme of a
human baby raised by wild animals and being a part of their
species. The true story of such a child appeared in Weekly World
News of October 19, 1982 under the title "Howl of the Wolf Boy."
"The story describes his flesh-eating habits and nocturnal
howlings. Discovered among a wolf pack in the Indian jungle, the
boy, newly named Pascal, was adopted by Mother Theresa's nuns,
who, over the skepticism of the doctors examining Pascal, believed
they could educate him" (Beck, 1983, 79).
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN OWNERS AND PETS
A pet can make positive changes in family dynamics. A pet
can bridge the generation gap between children and adults by
providing a common object of responsibility. By talking to one's
pet, it keeps them tuned into us. Pets catch the tone in our
voices. My dog LuLu knows when I ask her if she needs to go to
the bathroom and LuLu also knows when someone is hurting me by my
shrieking tone of voice. We also become tuned in to them by
recognizing different sounds they make or their different body
movements. When LuLu barks and growls I know a stranger is near
or when my fishes swim to the surface when I turn on the fish tank
light; they are hungry. So talk to your pets or with them, one
will find how small the communication gap really is!
HOW ANIMAL PERSONALITY DIFFERS FROM HUMAN PERSONALITY
White says it best when describing how animal personality
differs from human personality: "pets offer unconditional love,
pets give a person the chance to associate with a being who
doesn't judge, doesn't argue back, doesn't have prejudices,
biases, preconceptions, and definitions which don't agree with
yours, and best of all they don't 'tell on you"' (l983, 20-1)
Can anyone imagine a human being with all of these
characteristics?
Animals do not have the ability to reason. Human beings are
the only species to have the ability to reason. "Animals must do
whatever they can to ensure their survival, even if it means
feeding on their offsprings or siblings. Animals can not grasp
moral principles or reason as people do" (Howard, 1992, 739). We,
because of our social customs, exhibits compassion and pity
towards our prey, something animals do not do.
SOME FUNCTIONS PETS SERVE FOR HUMANS
ANIMALS AS COMPANIONS
Companion animals provide important physical, mental and
emotional benefits to humans. Animals have so little identity of
their own that the owner can project the attributes one chooses
with out contradiction. The owner can also control their pets
behavior and movements so that their presence and attention will
never fail. Animals act as a kind of living heraldry to help
proclaim the distinctness of their own identity. As pets, they
help us define ourselves, for better or for worse.
The saddest event is when the owners expectations are
defeated by the animals real behavior such as soiling the carpets,
chewing the furniture, and making it difficult to get away for the
weekends. Animals are then discarded and become victims of people
who fell in love with the idea of having a cute puppy, kitten, or
exotic animal.
ANIMALS AS A FORM OF FOOD
People have used animals for food (both as hunter and
hunted). We consume such a wide variety of animals thus giving us
the name carnivores. Eating animals provides us with many vital
vitamins and minerals which can not be obtained elsewhere.
Animals used as food fits well with the natural scheme of life.
"The two main functions of all plant and animal organisms are
reproduction and serving as food for other organisms" (Howard,
1992, 739). By eating animals we balance the amount of animals
living, otherwise there would be an abundance of animals over
plants and human beings.
ANIMALS AS A FORM OF TRANSPORTATION
People have used animals for transportation since the
beginning of human existence. Today, we drive automobiles but we
still use animals to transport us from one place to another.
Horses, donkeys, camels, and even elephants are still being used
as transportation all over the world. Animals do not only
transport human beings, they also transport our homes, goods for
trade, and our supplies.
ANIMALS AS A STATUS SYMBOL OR RATE EXCHANGE
People have used animals as a status symbol. Having a
purebred and winning a dog competition gives the person a higher
status in the eyes of fellow dog competitioners. People show off
their status symbol by having exotic animals and even wearing
animal fur.
People have also used animals as a form of rate exchange. "I
will give you four goats for your daughters hand in marriage"
(White, 1983, 18). Other forms of rate exchange can be seen in
trade before money was invented. People would exchange their
goods for animals. Animals was a form of commodity.
PETS AS THERAPISTS
Pets can reach withdrawn people who don't sense love from any
other human being. Pets also help people who have had heart
attacks, hypertension, and other medical problems.
ANIMAL AND HUMAN RELATIONSHIP "Psychologist Hank Davis tested the
controversial supposition that research animals
bond with laboratory scientists. Davis tested
twenty-six laboratory rats and found that all chose
the familiar person who handled, petted and fed
them daily over the stranger. The method Davis
used was placing the rat in the middle of a long
table with the stranger on one end and the familiar
person on the other. The rat investigates the two
individuals by sniffing them, then chooses the
familiar person" (Hardigg, 1983, 700).
This research has shown that rats are able to bond with people
who cared for them. It is a great insight to other animals being
able to bond with us.
PETS AND HEALTH
People with high blood pressure has a better chance of
lowering their blood pressure by having a pet. "Talking and
stroking an animal or watching tropical fish" (White, 1983, 19)
helps reduce blood pressure. Heart patients have a higher rate of
survival if they own a pet.
People who suffer with muscular, neurological and
neuromuscular damage and disease, people who are epileptics, and
people who are retarded and emotionally disturbed benefit the most
by owning a horse. Patients who suffer from muscular,
neurological, and neuromuscular damage and disease exhibited
improved circulation, were more physically relaxed after a series
of riding lessons, and also displayed improved reciprocal motion
with both sides of the body working together more smoothly.
Epileptics suffer less seizures by focusing their attention on
techniques and increasing their relaxation. Retarded and
emotionally disturbed patients showed both physical gains and
increased self-esteem and ability to concentrate on stimuli
external to themselves. There have been several cases in which
mute autistic children began speaking to a pony and then
communicating verbally with people (Kidd A.H., 1983, 720).
There has been "the use of small birds in a state mental
hospital to produce an improvement in several patients, who had
not responded to other therapies" (Kidd A.H., 1983, 721). Birds
help by increasing the need and desire to speak, by teaching
responsibility and lessening anxiety, and by giving patients
charge of living beings to which they could relate.
Imagine coming home after a long day at work to waging
tails, warm purrs, and ecstatic faces. The events of the day,
good or bad, fall into their proper perspective. Just knowing how
happy one has made their pet by just coming home and sitting with
one's pet to cuddle, or have them listen to how one's day went
with out any interruptions and just relaxing helps reduce stress.
Stress sometimes are the reason for high blood pressure and heart
attacks. Having a pet to come home to reduces the risk of these
health problems.
PETS AS COMPANIONS
Pets are great companions for people who feel lonely or who
are living alone. Dogs can make one feel secure at one's home.
Dogs live in their own territories and protects it from predators.
Pets also gives the individual the chance to meet other
individuals. "A stranger with a pet or people in the public eye
are more easily to warm up to" (White, 1983, 23). Pet's are great
ice-breakers when one wants to strike up a conversation.
PERSONALITY CONCEPTS THAT APPLIES TO PERSONALITY AND PETS
Animal metaphors such as "chicken", bullheaded", "monkey-see-
monkey-do", "bird brained", "sheepish", etc... are all some form
of traits that describes one's personality. There are different
types of traits to describe personality. Surface traits for
example could be a description of all types of dogs, cats, birds,
etc...
According to the social role theory, young children play a
role of pet ownership. A child having the responsibility of
owning a pet will provide a confidant for the growing child.
Having a pet who will provide companionship, unconditional
love, safety, and nonjudgmental emotional support continually
without any loss of benefits for the owner explains the exchange
theory. As long as the benefits towards the owner outweighs the
costs, the relationship between the pet and owner will continue.
OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH
After reading all of the information provided for the reader,
it clearly shows that pets do have a personality that have been
influenced by its owner and that pets also have a unique
personality of their own. Pets, with the influence of humans,
have names, may dress in human clothing, eat some human food, are
able to have braces put on them if their teethes are crooked, and
celebrate special occasions with the family. Pets do have a
personality of their own. Pets have traits that only they have
such as providing nonjudgmental emotional support and providing
unconditional love.
The relationship between pets and owners are unique. Animals
have so little identity of their own that the owner can project
the attributes one chooses with out contradiction. People also
pick pets that have similar characteristics as themselves.
Communication between pets and owners are special moments. Both
are able to tune in to each others voices or body movements.
Pets provide important physical, mental, and emotional
benefits to humans. Pets can reach withdrawn people, provide
companionship for those who are lonely, be a confidant to children
as well as adults, help relieve stress, help reduce the risks of
high blood pressure and heart attacks, and connect with retarded
or emotionally disturbed individuals.
Having a pet provides a more fulfilling life for humans.
Having a pet as a companion to help therapeutically or emotionally
benefits both the animal and the human. If one is able to care
for a pet, I suggest having one in ones life.
Letter to the Reader
I hope the reader has enjoyed the topic of research. It has
been an enlightening event in my life. I have learned more about
pets and their personality than I had expected. If the reader has
to do such a paper as I did, the only advice I can give is to
choose a topic that is of interest and one that has lots of
research sources available to the researcher. Good luck on future
research papers and I hope there won't be as much obstacles and
disappointments as I had faced.
Letter to Dr. James
Thank you for allowing me to do such an interesting research
paper. I enjoyed the topic and I learned more about pets and
their personality than I thought I would. One thing that I recall
while doing the paper was that I had dreams about the paper and
there were many commercials on television that reminded me of the
paper. One such example was the Dixie product commercial with the
tune "Personality". I thought I would go crazy doing the paper
but I did enjoy it after all!
GLOSSARY
Anthropomorphism: The ascribing of human motivation and
characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, or
natural phenomena.
Cultural stereotype: A conventional usually highly simplified
opinion or belief about a particular form of
civilization on customs, arts, and institutions of a
society at a given time.
Exchange theory: Theory that suggests that people continue to
engage in relationships only as long as the benefits of
their interactions outweigh the costs.
Personality: Distinctive qualities and traits of an individual.
Social role theory: Set of behaviors that has some socially
agreed-upon function and for which there exists an
accepted code of norms.
Surface traits: Clusters of observable trait elements that seem
to go together.
Traits: A persistent characteristic or dimension of individual
differences.
REFERENCES
Anthropomorphism. (1984). Webster's II new riverside dictionary.
New York: Berkley Books.
Beck, A. & Katcher, A. (1983). Between pets and people.
New York: G.P. Putnam's Son's.
Begley, S. (1993, November 1). Not just a pretty face. Newsweek.
122. p. 93-5.
Burke, S. (1992, February). In the presence of animals: health
professionals no longer scoff at the therapeutic effects
of pets. US News & World Report, 112. pp. 64-5.
Friedmann, E. (1988, February). People and pets. UNESCO Courier,
3. p. 11.
Hardigg, V. (1983, November). All in the family? It's no longer
taboo to acknowledge links between humans and beasts. US
News & World Report, 115. pp. 69-70.
Howard, W. E. (1992, November). Nature's death ethic. Bio
Science, 12. p. 739.
Kidd, A. H., Kelley, H. T. & Kidd, R. M. Personality
characteristics of horse, turtle, snake, and bird owners.
Psychological Reports, 52, 719-29.
Kidd, R. (1988, September-October). Choosing a pet. The Mother
Earth News, 113. p. 21.
Mischel, W. (1993). Introduction to personality. Fort Worth:
Hartcourt Brace Jovanovich College.
Netting, F. E., Wilson, C. C. & New, J. C. The human-animal bond:
implications for practice. Social Work, 32, 60-4.
O'Brien, S. J. Pet gifts for children. Childhood Education, 64,
230-31.
Personality. (1984). Webster's II new riverside dictionary.
New York: Berkley Books.
Samuelson, R. J. (1986, May). The pets are in charge. Newsweek,
107. p. 61.
Tennessen, T. Coping with confinement - features of the
environment that influence animals' ability to adapt.
Applied Animal Behavior Science, 22. pp. 139-149.
White, B. & Watson, T. J. (1983). Betty white's pet-love.
New York: William Morrow.
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