Van Houtte and Jarvis (1995)

Question 1

Background of the study

Answer 1

Studies have shown that people see their pets as warm and empathetic possibly because they show unconditional positive regard towards their owner. When children are aged 9-12, they form a sense of identity and autonomy. Van Houtte and Jarvis focused on young adolescents, looking at pet ownership and a childs wellbeing

Question 2

Aims of the study

Answer 2

To find out how pets affect a child’s development, specifically how having or not having pets affected children’s self esteem, concept ,sense of autonomy and attachment to animals

Question 3

Procedure of the study

Answer 3

130 children between 8-11 were used and participants had a brief explanation before the study and were informed of their rights. 65 were pet owners and 65 were not pet owners and interviews were used to find out background information about the participant such as parents marital status. The pet owning children were matched with the non pet owning children based of this information.

Question 4

Independent and Dependent variables of the study

Answer 4

Independent= Whether the child owned a pet or not
Dependent=self-esteem, self-concept, autonomy and attachment to animals all measured by questionnaires.

Question 5

Measures of the variables

Answer 5

Measure of autonomy- 20 questionnaire items, using Likert type scale
Measure of self-concept- The self-concept scale for children
Measure of self-esteem- A standard self-esteem scale
Measure of attachment to animals- A questionnaire

Question 6

Results of the study

Answer 6

11 year old pet owners had a higher self concept than non pet owners of the same age. 10 and 11 year old pet owners had a significantly higher self- esteem than non pet owners. Pet owners were also more likely than non pet owners to see their parents as human which suggests autonomy

Question 7

Conclusions of the study

Answer 7

Using the aspect of how parents are perceived, pet owners had a higher autonomy. For 11 years olds, having a pet led to a higher self esteem and self concept. Attachment to animals doesn’t change between pet owners and non pet owners.

Question 8

Strengths of the study

Answer 8

It has real world applications as pets can be used for 11 year olds with a low self esteem/self concept

The study is scientific as they control the extraneous variables such as social class and number of siblings

Question 9

Weaknesses of the study

Answer 9

To be classified as a pet owner, you needed to own a dog or cat which excludes the rest of the people that may have pets so the reliability of the study is reduced

It used a specific age range in a single school so the results are not generalisable to special education children or children with an illness