Will Having a Pet Make Us Happier? (Pixabay)
GENPOP — There is a general understanding that pets have a positive impact on a person’s well-being. A new study conducted by Michigan State University found that although pet owners are happy, there is no reliable relationship between pet ownership and well-being during the pandemic.
The study, published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, assessed 767 people three times in May 2020. The researchers used a mixed methods approach that allowed them to look at several indicators of well-being and ask people openly.
The questions ended to reflect on the role of pets from their perspective. Pet owners report that pets make them happy.
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They claim that pets help them feel more positive emotions and provide affection and companionship. They also reported negative aspects of pet ownership such as concerns about their pets’ welfare and distractions to their pets while working remotely.
However, when their happiness was compared to people who were not pet owners, the data showed no difference over time. The researchers found that no matter what type of pet one had, how many pets they had, or how close they were to their pets, the owner’s personality was not a factor in happiness.
“People say that pets make them happy, but when we actually measure happiness, that doesn’t seem to be the case,” said William Chopik, a professor in MSU’s Department of Psychology and one of the study’s authors.
According to him, most people recommend keeping animals if they are lonely. However, it doesn’t seem to have a significant impact.
The researchers explored several reasons why there was no difference between the well-being of pet owners and non-pet owners. One is that people who are not pet owners may fill their lives with other things that make them happy.
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2023-11-14 03:59:47
#Pet #Happier #genpop
