A dog is man’s best friend, the old adage tells us — and,
indeed, new research shows that when it comes to fulfilling our
basic psychological needs, humans do benefit from their pets in
much the same way they do from their friends. Researchers from
Miami University and Saint Louis University set out to test
whether a person can really lean on his or her pets to “fulfill
one’s social needs” — that is, to feel connected and in control
of one’s life. A growing literature in psychology has already
shown that among the elderly or the very ill, caring for a pet
can help stave off loneliness and even improve physical health.
But can pets bolster mental health among people who aren’t
already feeling isolated from other humans? That was the
question the researchers set out to test. The group, led by
Allen McConnell at Miami University, conducted three separate
but related studies, which were published together online as a
single article in the Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology early this month. In the first