Manuela Wedl

Dyadic relationships and operational performance of male and female owners and their male dogs

In the paper we investigate how owner personality, attitude and gender influence dog behavior, dyadic practical functionality and the level of dog salivary cortisol. In three meetings, 12 female and 10 male owners of male dogs answered questionnaires including the Neo-FFI human personality inventory. Their dyadic behavior was video-taped in a number of test situations, and saliva samples were collected. Owners who scored highly in neuroticism (Neo-FFI dimension one) viewed their dogs as social supporters and spent much time with them. Their dogs had low baseline cortisol levels, but such dyads were less successful in the operational task. Owners who scored highly in extroversion (Neo-FFI dimension two) appreciated shared activities with their dogs which had relatively high baseline cortisol values. Dogs that had female owners were less sociable-active (dog personality axis 1) than dogs that had male owners. Therefore, it appears that owner gender and personality influences dyadic interaction style, dog behavior and dyadic practical functionality.

Social and Individual Components of Animal Contact in Preschool Children

ABSTRACT Humans are generally biophilic. Still, for unknown reasons, interest in animals varies substantially among individuals. Our goal was to investigate how differential interest of children towards animals might be related to social competence and personality. We proposed two alternatives: 1) Children may compensate for potential deficits in social competence by resorting to animals, and 2) Socially well-connected children may show a particular interest in animals. We focused on relationships between age, gender, family background, play behavior, personality components, and contact with rabbits in 50 children (22 boys/28 girls; 3 to 7 years of age) at a preschool in Krems/Austria. Data were analyzed using GLM. We found that each one of these variables had significant impact on intensity of engagement with the rabbits. In general, girls, children with siblings, and children without pets were more oriented towards the rabbits than were boys, children without siblings, or pet-owning children. The older the children, the less frequently they occupied themselves with the rabbits but the longer they remained when they did engage them. Furthermore, we found that the more “Confident/Respected” (PCA factor 1) and less “Patient/Calm,” “Cheerful/Sociable,” and “Solitary” (PCA factors 2–4) the children, the more time they spent in direct occupation with rabbits. Most effects of the investigated variables varied between boys and girls. By and large, our findings support the hypothesis that the “socially competent” children were particularly interested in the animals. Also, childrens social styles, as evinced in interactions with peers, were generally reflected in how they interacted with the rabbits.

Children with Avoidant or Disorganized Attachment Relate Differently to a Dog and to Humans During a Socially Stressful Situation

ABSTRACT Human attachment representations are shaped in interaction with the primary caregiver and are generally transferred to further bonding/ social partners later in life. According to previous evidence, primary attachment representations acquired with humans do not seem to be transferred to companion animals. This was held as a major factor why such animals would effectively provide social support also to persons with insecure attachment. The aim of this study in 19 male children, 7–11 years of age and with insecure-avoidant or disorganized attachment, was to investigate differences in their social behavior and in physiological responses when socially supported by an unfamiliar therapy dog in a socially stressful situation. The Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C) was conducted to elicit stress in the children when in the presence of the dog and a female human investigator. We found that boys with disorganized attachment (n=11) communicated more intensely than avoidantly attached boys (n=8) with both the dog and humans present. Boys with a disorganized attachment had more physical contact with the dog during the TSST-C and talked more to the dog during and after the TSST-C than did boys with an insecure-avoidant attachment. While the prevailing wisdom holds that attachment representations acquired with the primary human caregiver would not transfer to companion animals, our data indicate otherwise. At least components of attachment-related interaction styles, such as degree of contact seeking in verbal and tactile interactions are also displayed in interaction with animal partners.