Impact of Keeping Pets at Home Upon the Social Development of Children. Zuzanna Toeplitz Ph.D., Anna Matczak Ph.D., Anna Piotrowska Ph.D. Aleksandra Zygier, University of Warsaw. Warsaw. Poland. 1995. (Paper presented at the 7th International Conference on Human-Animal Interactions, Animals, Health and Quality of Life, September 6-9, 1995, Geneva, Switzerland).
The impact of keeping dogs or cats at home on social development of children age 4. 6 and 8 years was examined using interpersonal decentration. social sensibility. social interaction. prosocial behaviour and self-reliance as indicators of social development.
Three levels of age. two kinds of pets and sex construed 3 x 3 x 2 factorial design. A total of 540 subjects. 30 subjects per cell took part in the study. Dependent measures consisted of: interview. natural experiment. Test of Faces and CAT. Subjects' mothers filled up information questionnaire and PARI (attitude test) and teachers Observation Sheet. ANOVA analysis and t-test were used to test between-group differences.
The main results were as follows: the difference in personal decentration (p<.001) greater in groups of children with pets at home and higher scores in prosocial behaviour measures (p<.001) in groups with dogs and cats at home. Children with cats also show higher levels of self-reliance (p<.0l).
The results show the importance of keeping pets at home for the development of prosocial behaviour even in the very young children. The results also show the role played by domestic cats that may be important for future pet buyers.
