Loneliness and Pet Ownership among Single Women

Abstract

Relationships among loneliness, pet ownership, and attachment were studied in a sample of 148 adult female students, 59 pet owners and 89 nonowners. No significant differences were found on the loneliness reported by pet owners and nonowners. A two by two analysis of variance showed that women living entirely alone were significantly more lonely than those living with pets only, with both other people and pets, and with other people but without pets. No associations were found between loneliness and pet attachment. Also, no significant differences were found in loneliness or pet attachment scores between dog and cat owners; however, women living only with a dog were significantly more attached to the dog than those living with both a dog and other people. Conversely, women living only with a cat were significantly less attached to the cat than those living with both a cat and other people. These findings indicate that having a pet can help to diminish feelings of loneliness, particularly for women living alone, and compensate for the absence of human companionship.

Attachment to pets and interpersonal relationships: Can a four-legged friend replace a two-legged one?

“…The higher attachment levels of dog owners can be linked to dogs requiring more individual care (Valentinčič, 2003) and variegated interactions, for example, walking or training (Zasloff & Kidd, 1994), which can result in stronger affection. Out of 128 participants that own both a cat and a dog, the cat was the chosen attachment object of only 19 participants, which can be linked to behavioral characteristics of cats that lead to attachment differences.…”

The Influence of Perceived Belonging on Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games

“…Since real-life pets can be "an important source of social support", giving people a sense of belonging [28, p. 1240], and since research suggests that there might be no differences between a person's feelings towards a real pet or a virtual pet [cf. 23,42], Ernst and Ernst [15] examined the potential influence of an individual's Perceived Belonging on how often he/she plays the Pokémon video games. They confirmed that Perceived Belonging, which in this case was created by companionship with the virtual pets, is a direct positive influence factor of Actual Game Use as well as an indirect influence factor of Actual Game Use through Perceived Enjoyment.…”

Companion Animals: A Potential Threat in Emergence and Transmission of Parasitic Zoonoses

“…They are vital companions in numerous households, contributing to the social, physical, mental and emotional development of kids, and owners in particularly aged people (Zasloff, 1994;Jennings, 1997). They are considered as one of the family member in the home.…”