Gender and Age Differences in Children’s Perceptions of Self-Companion Animal Interactions Expressed through Drawings

Abstract

This study explored gender and age differences in children’s perceptions of their interactions with companion animals, as represented through drawings and written descriptions. The study included 77 school-aged children (50 girls, 27 boys; aged 6 to 12 years) who attended a one-week humane education summer camp that aimed to promote positive interactions with animals. Children completed drawings of their interactions with companion animals and provided accompanying written descriptions. The results suggested that boys’ drawings and written descriptions showed more cognitively-based perceptions of self-companion animal interactions. In contrast, girls’ drawings and written descriptions showed more emotionally-focused perceptions. The drawings and written descriptions of younger (versus older) girls included the highest percentage of emotional language. In contrast, older (versus younger) boys used the highest percentage of emotional language to describe their self-companion animal drawings. Implications for gendered, developmentally sensitive, school-based programs aimed to encourage positive interactions between children and animals are discussed.

The Nature and Psychological Impact of Child/Adolescent Attachment to Dogs Compared with Other Companion Animals

“…This shows the importance of examining potential variations in the ways girls and boys respond to different types of animal. In particular, it is important to consider children's play, peer relationships and bullying more generally, as differences in the way boys and girls interact with peers may well mirror their play preferences and interactions with animals (Tardif-Williams & Bosacki, 2016). How animals are cared for within the family context is also significant with respect to gender (Muldoon et al, 2015), but this has rarely been investigated.…”

Children’s Mental State Talk, Empathy, and Attachments to Companion Animals

“…The children participated in a five-day long educationally-based summer camp program, designed to encourage respectful, caring, gentle, and supportive interactions between children and companion animals through the instruction of humane education curriculum (see Tardif-Williams & Bosacki, 2017). Data collection took place during eight, one-week sessions (July to August 2011) at a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), and the present study focused on data from the first day of the 5-day long camp.…”

“…More specifically, past research shows that girls often score higher than boys on emotional language (Bryant, 1992;Maftei & Holman, 2019;Muldoon, Williams, & Lawrence, 2015;Muldoon, Williams, & Currie, 2019;Tardif-Williams & Bosacki, 2017), and engage in more comforting behaviors and adopt sad or understanding expressions when they observe another's discomfort or unease (Connellan, Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Batki, & Ahluwalia, 2000;Hoffman, 1977). However, contrary evidence for gender differences has been found in children's perceptions of peer and companion animal friendships.…”

“…In addition, the unequal gender distribution (50 girls, 27 boys), and the relatively ethnically homogenous sample suggest that interpretations of this study's findings are to be made with caution. More in-depth, longitudinal studies with a larger sample that is multi-aged and of diverse heritage and gender identities may benefit future research on the connections among children's mental state understanding, socio-emotional and moral reasoning, and their companion-animal relationships (de Waal & Sherblom, 2018;Holl, Kirsch, Rohlf, Krahe, & Elsner, 2018;Tardif-Williams & Bosacki, 2017).…”

Children’s Moral Reasoning About Animals: Implications for Development and Education

“…The question of gender differences in moral reasoning about animals remains unresolved. Girls express more caring toward 'unpopular' wild animals, such as cockroaches, spiders and mosquitoes, than do boys (Zhbanova et al, 2022) and use more emotion-language (happy, sad) when talking about their ties to their pets (Tardif-Williams & Bosacki, 2017). Adults who describe themselves as animal activists, concerned about animal welfare, are disproportionately female (Herzog & Golden, 2009).…”