The Pet And Owner Relationship

Review of Literature

Research into the pet and owner relationship indicates a plethora of positive benefits that companion animals provide to their owner’s physical, psychological, and social well-being (O’Haire, 2010); (Walsh, 2009); (Chandler et al., 2015). First, the pioneer research into the protective influence of pet ownership was a longitudinal study of patients with coronary heart disease. At the one-year follow-up of the patients’ release from the hospital, those with a pet had one-third of the mortality rate than those without a pet (Friedmann, Katcher, Lynch, & Thomas, 1980). Further, Patronek & Glickman (1993) suggested that the reduced frequency of pet owner’s cardiovascular implications compared to non-pet owners was because pet ownership influenced psychological and social risk factors. Even more compelling is the conclusion that the companionship of one’s pet was more effective than a significant other or friend in improving the cardiovascular effects of stress (Allen, Blascovich, & Mendes, 2002). This finding indicates the powerful relationship that humans and their pets share.

The positive advantages of the pet and owner relationship have also been evident in the Mental Health Field. For example, having a pet tends to obstruct the propensity toward a negative self-outlook in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and ADHD and increases individual participation in their environment by viewing their surroundings in non-threatening ways (Borker & Dawson, 1998; Beck, 2005). Further, the benefits that pets provide has also been demonstrated to lessen symptoms of depression in AIDS patients, ease symptoms of depression and loneliness in older adults, and reduce suffering and anxiety in hospice...

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...process and the numerous benefits seen in their human counterparts; I’m curious into the potential outcomes that rescued animals can have on subjective well-being. With millions of perfectly adoptable dogs and cats in shelters across the nation, this study would examine how not only the inclusion of animals themselves, but the additional component of knowing that an animal was rescued from “death row” could have on participants. I expect to find that there is a correlation between an increase of subjective well-being of participants during and immediately after being paired with a rescue animal. My theoretical framework is a strength-based approach that incorporates aspects of positive psychology and solution focused. When viewing the research question, “Does interacting with a rescued animal affect the self-reported rates of happiness in undergraduate students?”