Empathic-like responding by domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) to distress in humans: an exploratory study

Custance, Deborah M.; Mayer, Johannes

doi:10.1007/s10071-012-0510-1

Cited by 175 publications

(142 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…In parallel, the area of research investigating the ability of various animal species, including companion animals, to experience a range of positive and negative emotions (both basic and complex) is experiencing exponential growth. This includes, but is not limited to, pain, fear, joy, anger, disgust, regret, compassion, empathy, depression, and surprise (Yue, Moccia and Duncan 2004;Custance and Mayer 2012;Meridda, Gazzano and Mariti 2014).…”

Section: Limitations Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Emotional Lives of Companion Animals: Attachment and Subjective Claims by Owners of Cats and Dogs

2016

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There is a growing body of scientific evidence supporting the existence of emotions in nonhuman animals. Companion-animal owners show a strong connection and attachment to their animals and readily assign emotions to them. In this paper we present information on how the attachment level of companion-animal owners correlates with their attribution of emotions to their companion cat or dog and their attribution of mirrored emotions. The results of an online questionnaire, completed by 1,023 Dutch-speaking cat and/or dog owners (mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium), suggest that owners attribute several emotions to their pets. Respondents attributed all posited basic (anger, joy [happiness], fear, surprise, disgust, and sadness) and complex (shame, jealousy, disappointment, and compassion) emotions to their companion animals, with a general trend toward basic emotions (with the exception of sadness) being more commonly attributed than complex emotions. All pet owners showed strong attachment to their companion animal(s), with the degree of attachment (of both cat and dog owners) varying significantly with education level and gender. Owners who ascribed human characteristics to their dog or cat also scored higher on the Pet Bonding Scale (PBS). Finally, owners who found it pleasant to pet their dog or cat had a higher average PBS score than those who did not like to do so. The relationship between owners' attributions of mirrored emotions and the degree of attachment to dogs was significant for all emotions, whilst for cats this relationship was significant only for joy, sadness, surprise, shame, disappointment, and compassion.

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Section: Limitations Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Emotional Lives of Companion Animals: Attachment and Subjective Claims by Owners of Cats and Dogs

2016

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“…Consolation has been linked to empathy (Romero, Castellanos, & de Waal, 2010), for which there is evidence in dogs (Custance & Mayer, 2012) and which thus seems likely to prevail also in wolves. In our study of free-ranging wolves, solicited consolation occurred frequently while unsolicited consolation was more rare (probably owing to our small sample size).…”

Section: Postconflict Affiliation In Wolvesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conflict management in free-ranging wolves, Canis lupus

et al. 2014

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“…This suggests that dogs may learn to associate positive expressions in familiar people with positive outcomes. Finally, it has also been observed that dogs are more likely to approach a person in a submissive manner when that person is pretending to cry than when he/she is talking or humming (Custance & Mayer, 2012), although it is difficult to determine conclusively why dogs may respond differently specifically to crying.…”

Section: Emotional Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%