![]() Many of us all yearn for unconditional love. Overall, pet owners are just healthier (both physically and mentally) than those who don't own pets. As mentioned, pets also increase social support, which has been found to improve cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune function. Spending time with a pet has been found to lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, and release chemicals that trigger relaxation even when there’s a lot on your plate. Discussing your pets is also an easy conversation starter. People are more likely to approach and talk to someone who is walking a dog or at the dog park. Pet ownership has been found to be associated with lower levels of social isolation and increased social support.īesides your pet's companionship, pets also make it easier for you to connect with congenial humans. Studies have determined that pet owners and animal lovers are less likely to be lonely. The truth is, animals – particularly our pets – offer humans a variety of powerful benefits. Our reasons for loving animals is not based just on empathy, however. It's the answer to why you may not feel any compassion for the millions of people living in extreme poverty, while the story of one child living on the street with no medical care is more likely to move you to want to help. Our reverence for dogs and cats over other species could also be explained by something called "the collapse of compassion." This is the psychological principle which tells us that the more tragedy we see, the less we care. Popular culture has drilled it into us over generations that our pets are just like humans, and primed many of us to be animal lovers from a young age. They sometimes talk to each other using verbal words as people would, indulge in dreams for the future, and fall in love just like we do. Take a moment to think about how many pet movies you likely watched as a kid. Many of these media portrayals endow dogs and cats with human qualities. There are several psychological explanations as to why that might be.įirst, we must account for the influence of pop culture. How is it that one African lion brutally killed for sport elicits powerful empathy while the 39 million cows and calves that are killed every year in slaughterhouses leaves us unmoved? The routine slaughter of animals for food (cattle, chickens, pigs, etc.) doesn't faze most of us nearly as much. When we read about a lion or an elephant who is hunted and killed in the wild, our response is often one of anger – almost as much anger as hearing stories of abuse and neglect of dogs and cats.īut there is a basic irony about these feelings. ![]() Additionally, we sometimes might feel empathy for certain large, charismatic wild animals such as elephants, dolphins, or lions. If we analyze our feelings carefully, we find that most of our adoration of animals centers on dogs and cats. Our perception of adult humans is that they can easily speak up for their rights or defend themselves from danger. We impulsively care for them and desire to help them because they are unable to easily help themselves. The natural affection we feel for animals can be compared to the affection we feel for our children. This can also relate to the human-animal bond many of us feel, as they require our attention, help, and concern. Rather, it has to do with perceived helplessness and vulnerability. Researchers concluded that this suggests that our empathy level is unrelated to species. Respondents showed the same level of empathy for the baby, the puppy, and the adult dog, but significantly less for the adult human being. While the story was the same, it differed in one crucial detail: the identity of the victim change, which was either a one-year-old baby, an adult human, a six-year-old dog, or a puppy. The study’s participants were asked to respond to a fake news story about a victim who was assaulted with a baseball bat, leaving them unconscious with several broken limbs. So why is it so easy to generate empathy for suffering animals?Ī recent study by criminologist Jack Levin reveals a possible answer that might surprise you, and it’s backed by science. Social media is also believed to be a large contributor to the growing lack of empathy for others. Empathy definition psychology can be: “the ability to sense other people's emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling.” Because of the constant media barrage of violence, death, and despair, we are becoming increasingly desensitized to the suffering of other humans. This is the reason why it is important to understand the definition of empathy. Work Through Your Grief With A Board-Certified Therapist OnlineĮmpathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of others, is a complex emotion for us humans.
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