Rights statement: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Anthrozoos on 01/06/2021, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08927936.2021.1926708
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Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - From pets to pests
T2 - Testing the scope of the 'pets as ambassadors' hypothesis
AU - Possidónio, Catarina
AU - Piazza, Jared
AU - Graça, João
AU - Prada, Marília
N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Anthrozoos on 01/06/2021, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08927936.2021.1926708
PY - 2021/10/31
Y1 - 2021/10/31
N2 - Positive relationships with pets can sometimes foster more positive judgments ofother animals. The present study sought to examine the scope of this ‘Pets asAmbassadors’ effect in relation to four meaningful animal categories (companion,farmed, predators, and pests) derived from the Animal Images Database (Animal.ID).The Animal.ID contains ratings from 376 Portuguese individuals on pet attachment and several dimensions related to animal attributes and moral concern for 120 different animals, which offered insights into the scope and nature of the pets as ambassadors effect. Pet attachment was related positively to ethical concern for animals and lower levels of speciesism. The relationship between pet attachment and animal attributions were expressed, beyond companion animals, most consistently for predators and farmed animals, and least of all pests. The benefits of pet attachment centered mostly on aesthetic judgments and benevolent feelings towards predators and farmed animals, sentience attributions for pests, and concerns about the killing of all animal groups for human consumption. Pet attachment did not reliably relate to theattributions individuals made about the intelligence or dangerousness of animals, or their similarity to humans. The findings help clarify how pets might serve asambassadors for other animals.
AB - Positive relationships with pets can sometimes foster more positive judgments ofother animals. The present study sought to examine the scope of this ‘Pets asAmbassadors’ effect in relation to four meaningful animal categories (companion,farmed, predators, and pests) derived from the Animal Images Database (Animal.ID).The Animal.ID contains ratings from 376 Portuguese individuals on pet attachment and several dimensions related to animal attributes and moral concern for 120 different animals, which offered insights into the scope and nature of the pets as ambassadors effect. Pet attachment was related positively to ethical concern for animals and lower levels of speciesism. The relationship between pet attachment and animal attributions were expressed, beyond companion animals, most consistently for predators and farmed animals, and least of all pests. The benefits of pet attachment centered mostly on aesthetic judgments and benevolent feelings towards predators and farmed animals, sentience attributions for pests, and concerns about the killing of all animal groups for human consumption. Pet attachment did not reliably relate to theattributions individuals made about the intelligence or dangerousness of animals, or their similarity to humans. The findings help clarify how pets might serve asambassadors for other animals.
KW - Attitudes
KW - human–animal interaction
KW - pet attachment
KW - pets as ambassadors
U2 - 10.1080/08927936.2021.1926708
DO - 10.1080/08927936.2021.1926708
M3 - Journal article
VL - 34
SP - 707
EP - 722
JO - Anthrozoos
JF - Anthrozoos
SN - 0892-7936
IS - 5
ER -