Are you one of those people who prefers the company of dogs over people, because our dogs just ‘get’ us and love us more than anyone else on the planet?
Well, it turns out that we really do feel the same way back!
New research from Northeastern University’s Brudnick Centre on Violence and Conflict has found that human to dog relationships are stronger than human to human ones.
The study collected data from 240 people between the ages of 18-25 and looked at their levels of empathy towards an adult, a baby, and a dog.
Co-authors Jack Levin and Arnold Arluke handed the participants fictional news stories about the abuse of an adult in their 30s, a 6-year-old dog, a puppy, and a toddler. Each story reported that a police officer found the victim unconscious with deep cuts and a broken leg and that the criminal had not been caught.
The participants were then asked to rate how much they cared about each victim.
The results? The puppy and the baby drew the most empathy, both being symbols of innocence and helplessness.
Jack also suggested the results would be similar for cats and other household pets.
He revealed in a statement, “Contrary to popular thinking, we are not necessarily more disturbed by animal rather than human suffering.
“Our results indicate a much more complex situation with respect to the age and species of victims, with age being the more important component.
“The fact that adult human crime victims receive less empathy than do child, puppy, and full grown dog victims suggests that adult dogs are regarded as dependent and vulnerable not unlike their younger canine counterparts and kids.”
While the study might not be measuring how much we ‘love’ someone, we’re just going to take it as us loving our doggo more than anyone else.
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