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Differences in Self-Esteem Between Cat Owners, Dog Owners, and Individuals Without Pets

Introduction: Pet ownership may provide an additional source of social support and may contribute to the owner's self-esteem. Self-esteem is considered a basic human need and is associated with psychological conditions such as depressive symptoms. To date, there is limited knowledge on the asso...

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Autores principales: Schulz, Claudia, König, Hans-Helmut, Hajek, André
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7492270/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32984412
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.00552
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author Schulz, Claudia
König, Hans-Helmut
Hajek, André
author_facet Schulz, Claudia
König, Hans-Helmut
Hajek, André
author_sort Schulz, Claudia
collection PubMed
description Introduction: Pet ownership may provide an additional source of social support and may contribute to the owner's self-esteem. Self-esteem is considered a basic human need and is associated with psychological conditions such as depressive symptoms. To date, there is limited knowledge on the association between keeping a pet and self-esteem. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether cat owners, dog owners, and individuals without pets differ in terms of self-esteem (total sample and stratified by sex). Methods: Data were taken from the German Aging Survey (wave 5; nationally representative sample of individuals residing in private households ≥40 years). In this survey, the widely used and well-established Rosenberg scale was used to quantify self-esteem. Socioeconomic, lifestyle, and health-related factors were adjusted for in the regression analysis (n = 5,485). Results: Multiple linear regressions showed that dog owners reported higher self-esteem scores compared to individuals without pets (β = 0.04, p < 0.05). Similarly, male dog owners reported higher self-esteem scores compared to men without pets (β = 0.07, p < 0.01). In contrast, female cat owners reported lower self-esteem scores compared to women without pets (β = −0.07, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Study findings showed a link between owning a cat and lower self-esteem (women), as well as between owning a dog and higher self-esteem (total sample; men). Future studies should concentrate on investigating the underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, longitudinal studies are needed to better understand the link between animal ownership and self-esteem.
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spelling pubmed-74922702020-09-25 Differences in Self-Esteem Between Cat Owners, Dog Owners, and Individuals Without Pets Schulz, Claudia König, Hans-Helmut Hajek, André Front Vet Sci Veterinary Science Introduction: Pet ownership may provide an additional source of social support and may contribute to the owner's self-esteem. Self-esteem is considered a basic human need and is associated with psychological conditions such as depressive symptoms. To date, there is limited knowledge on the association between keeping a pet and self-esteem. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether cat owners, dog owners, and individuals without pets differ in terms of self-esteem (total sample and stratified by sex). Methods: Data were taken from the German Aging Survey (wave 5; nationally representative sample of individuals residing in private households ≥40 years). In this survey, the widely used and well-established Rosenberg scale was used to quantify self-esteem. Socioeconomic, lifestyle, and health-related factors were adjusted for in the regression analysis (n = 5,485). Results: Multiple linear regressions showed that dog owners reported higher self-esteem scores compared to individuals without pets (β = 0.04, p < 0.05). Similarly, male dog owners reported higher self-esteem scores compared to men without pets (β = 0.07, p < 0.01). In contrast, female cat owners reported lower self-esteem scores compared to women without pets (β = −0.07, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Study findings showed a link between owning a cat and lower self-esteem (women), as well as between owning a dog and higher self-esteem (total sample; men). Future studies should concentrate on investigating the underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, longitudinal studies are needed to better understand the link between animal ownership and self-esteem. Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-09-02 /pmc/articles/PMC7492270/ /pubmed/32984412 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.00552 Text en Copyright © 2020 Schulz, König and Hajek. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Veterinary Science
Schulz, Claudia
König, Hans-Helmut
Hajek, André
Differences in Self-Esteem Between Cat Owners, Dog Owners, and Individuals Without Pets
title Differences in Self-Esteem Between Cat Owners, Dog Owners, and Individuals Without Pets
title_full Differences in Self-Esteem Between Cat Owners, Dog Owners, and Individuals Without Pets
title_fullStr Differences in Self-Esteem Between Cat Owners, Dog Owners, and Individuals Without Pets
title_full_unstemmed Differences in Self-Esteem Between Cat Owners, Dog Owners, and Individuals Without Pets
title_short Differences in Self-Esteem Between Cat Owners, Dog Owners, and Individuals Without Pets
title_sort differences in self-esteem between cat owners, dog owners, and individuals without pets
topic Veterinary Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7492270/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32984412
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.00552
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