Why pets may NOT have the power to make humans happier after all, new study reveals

• New research indicated that pets are not associated with a person’s well-being 
• 767 people were questioned on their personality traits and pet characteristics 
• The analysis included an open-ended question for all survey takers 

Many household pets are much-loved members of the family – but a new study suggests they might not actually hold the key to their owners’ happiness. 

Research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic indicated that pets may have been helpful during quarantine and social isolation. 

But now an updated study considering the benefits and costs of owning an animal published in Sage Journals on November 3 suggests that pet ownership is not connected to a person’s well-being. 

A total of 767 participants were surveyed by William J. Chopik, Jeewon Oh, and Richard B. Slatcher about pet characteristics including the number of animals owned and their human-pet relationship, along with their own personality traits.

The analysis also included an open-ended question: ‘If you want to say a few words about how having pet(s) has been helpful (or not) to you during the time of the pandemic, please feel free to do so here.’

An updated study published on November 3 indicated that pets don’t always make people happy  

767 people participated in a study conducted by William J. Chopik, Jeewon Oh, and Richard B. Slatcher asked questions about the person’s personality traits and pet characteristics

The results showed that pet ownership did not predict a person’s well-being, and the number of pets, types of pets, relationship with pets, and owner’s personality did not matter.

One thing that did stick out in the results was that dog ownership predicted greater life satisfaction, purpose in live, positive affect, and lower depression. 

These findings led to another conclusion – people with a higher well-being result or extroverted characteristics are happier and more likely to own dogs.

Regarding the benefits of owning a pet, 33 percent of survey takers said that positive emotions was the biggest and companionship was a close second at 19 percent.

Other benefits of pet ownership according to participants include affection, exercise, entertainment, sense of purpose, and cuddling. 

Participants listed several benefits of owning a dog – benefits such as positive emotions, companionships, affection, sense of purpose, and cuddling

The cost of owning a pet was brought up, but it should be noted that it was rarely mentioned in the study.

The study indicated that four percent of participants who weren’t afraid to discuss the issue believe that guilt is the biggest cost in owning a pet.

Death/loss/separation came in at four percent, while interference with work, cleaning up after pets, and worsened health each tied at two percent.

An example of this from the analysis was of participants who felt guilty about not being able to spend more time with their pets.

Other people were also stressed about cleaning and worry about their pet’s health and financial cost. 

Cons of owning a pet according to participants include guilt, work interference, and worsened health. The researchers concluded that owning pets do not make a person happy

Chopik, Oh, and Slatcher concluded that owning pets do not make humans happier, but that people only think they do.

The researchers explained that there were too many factors involved in a person’s well-being aside from owning a pet and the variety of pros and cons of ownership is high.

One of the examples given has to do with owners attached to their pets potentially not having good relationships with other people.

A person’s degree of extraversion and loneliness levels could also convince them that adopting a pet is a good idea.

Adoption could lead to a pet bringing them happiness, but only for a short period of time. 

Source: Read Full Article