An attachment perspective on human–pet relationships: Conceptualization and assessment of pet attachment orientations

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Abstract

In a series of studies we used attachment theory as a framework to examine human–pet relationships. We proposed that, as in interpersonal relationships, people differ in their degree of anxious or avoidant attachment to their pets, and that these individual differences influence pet-related cognitions, emotions, and behavior. We constructed a self-report scale, the Pet Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ), and examined its factorial structure, associations with attachment patterns in human relationships (Studies 1–2), relation to explicit and implicit expectations concerning a pet (3–4), and reactions to the loss of a pet (5). We found that individual differences in pet attachment do occur in the domains of attachment anxiety and avoidance, and these differences contribute uniquely to the prediction of expectations about the pet and emotional reactions to its death.

Highlights

► A scale tapping pet attachment was built. ► People differ in anxious and avoidant attachment to pets. ► These variations are related to pet-related cognitions and behavior.

Introduction

Pets have long been considered to be some of human beings’ best friends. However, as in other relationships that people form with humans and religious figures (e.g., God), human–pet relationships vary widely in closeness, warmth, commitment, emotional involvement, conflict, and other features. In the studies presented here, we used adult attachment theory (Bowlby, 1982, Bowlby, 1988, Hazan and Shaver, 1987, Mikulincer and Shaver, 2003, Mikulincer and Shaver, 2007) as a framework for examining individual differences in human–pet relationships. Specifically, we proposed that (a) people, as in close interpersonal relationships, differ in their attachments to pets along the dimensions of attachment anxiety and avoidance, and (b) these individual differences reflect internal working models of relationships with pets that are associated with pet-related expectations, emotions, and behavior. To explore this possibility, we constructed a self-report scale, the Pet Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ), and examined its factorial structure and its associations with mental representations of pets and reactions to the loss of a pet.

Section snippets

An attachment perspective on human–pet relationships

Originally, the concept of attachment was used to conceptualize child–parent relationships (e.g., Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). In such relationships the child occupies the role of needy, dependent relationship partner, and parents occupy the role of what Bowlby (1982) called “stronger and wiser” caregivers, or attachment figures. Bowlby (1988) claimed, however, that attachment theory and the concept of attachment are relevant to social cognitions and relational behavior across the

Individual differences in human–pet relations: attachment orientations

In conceptualizing human–pet relationships as attachments, we focus on individual differences in what attachment researchers call “attachment style” or “attachment orientation” – the systematic pattern of relational expectations, emotions, and behaviors that results from a particular attachment history (Fraley & Shaver, 2000). Research, beginning with Ainsworth et al. (1978) and continuing through studies conducted by personality and social psychologists (reviewed by Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007),

The current study

Following this line of reasoning, we focus here on people’s attachment orientations in the domain of human–pet relationships, realizing that these orientations are likely to be associated with attachment orientations in other relationship domains and across all domains, but will nevertheless be somewhat distinct. Our goals for the studies reported here were (a) to assess specific attachment orientations within the domain of human–pet relationships (pet attachment orientations) and (b) to

Study 1

In Study 1 we sought to create a reliable and valid self-report scale to measure attachment anxiety and avoidance in relationships with pets (the Pet Attachment Questionnaire, PAQ). For this purpose, we considered items from scales designed to measure attachment to pets and from scales designed to measure attachment orientations in interpersonal relationships. In addition, new items were added following semi-structured interviews with a sample of pet owners. We hypothesized that the PAQ items

Study 2

In Study 2 we examined associations between PAQ scores and attachment orientations in close human relationships. Based on previous findings showing that attachment orientations can be conceptualized in terms of a hierarchical network (e.g., Overall et al., 2003), we predicted that PAQ scores would be moderately associated with global attachment orientations in close relationships. However, based on studies assessing attachment to God (e.g., Kirkpatrick and Shaver, 1990, Kirkpatrick and Shaver,

Study 3

In Study 3 we examined the ability of the PAQ scores to predict working models of a pet (e.g., positive and negative expectations about pet behavior). For this purpose, we constructed a self-report scale examining pet owners’ expectations regarding pet behavior in three attachment-relevant domains: dependence, trust, and closeness. The PAQ and the expectancy questionnaire are self-report scales focusing on similar aspects of the human–pet bond (dependence, closeness, trust). However, whereas

Study 4

In Study 4, participants completed a lexical decision task (Meyer & Schvaneveldt, 1971), which is a well-known means of exploring a person’s implicit working models (e.g., Baldwin et al., 1993). In this task, participants were presented with a string of letters on a computer screen and indicated as quickly as possible whether it was or was not a word. Reaction times (RTs) served as a measure of the accessibility of thoughts related to the target words: The shorter the RT, the greater the

Study 5

In Study 5 we examined whether and how individual differences in pet attachment orientations contribute to the process of grieving following the loss of a pet. In the interpersonal realm, previous studies have shown that attachment anxiety and avoidance shape a person’s grief responses following the death of a relationship partner (e.g., Fraley and Bonanno, 2004, Stroebe et al., 2005). We wanted to determine whether these associations also occur in the realm of human–pet relationships. For this

General discussion

The main aim of this research was to expand attachment theory and research to human–pet relationships and to examine possible correspondences between attachment orientations in human–human relationships and attachment anxiety and avoidance in a relationship with a pet. We assume that pets can serve basic attachment functions and that people have different dispositions that affect the way they experience relationships with their pets.

Our studies show that, like attachment orientations in

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