Thursday, March 28, 2024
ADVT 
Life

It's true! Jealousy strikes dogs too

Darpan News Desk IANS, 24 Jul, 2014 08:10 AM
  • It's true! Jealousy strikes dogs too
Even though some scientists have argued that jealousy is an entirely social construct, dog owners would not dispute that their puppies can be as possessive as humans and the first ever experiment on dog jealousy only confirms this.
 
"Our study suggests not only that dogs do engage in what appear to be jealous behaviour but also that they were seeking to break up the connection between the owner and a seeming rival," said Christine Harris, a professor of psychology at University of California, San Diego in the US.
 
"We can not really speak to the dogs' subjective experiences, of course, but it looks as though they were motivated to protect an important social relationship," Harris added.
 
The findings support the view that there may be a more basic form of jealousy, which evolved to protect social bonds from interlopers.
 
Dogs exhibit more jealous behaviours, like snapping and pushing at their owner or the rival, when the owner showed affection to what appeared to be another dog, showed the findings.
 
For the study, the researchers adapted a test used with six-month-old human infants.
 
They worked with 36 dogs in their own homes and videotaped the owners ignoring them in favour of a stuffed, animated dog or a jack-o-lantern pail.
 
Dogs were about twice as likely to push or touch the owner when the owner was interacting with the faux dog (78 percent) as when the owner was attending to the pail (42 percent). Even fewer (22 percent) did this in the book condition.
 
About 30 percent of the dogs also tried to get between their owner and the stuffed animal.
 
And while 25 percent snapped at the "other dog," only one did so at the pail and book.
 
The study appeared in the journal PLOS ONE.

MORE Life ARTICLES

Review: Rock ‘N’ Roll musical, Red Rock Diner

Review: Rock ‘N’ Roll musical, Red Rock Diner
This infectious musical captures the excitement and innocence of the city’s burgeoning rock ‘n’ roll scene.

Review: Rock ‘N’ Roll musical, Red Rock Diner

Age increases belief in love at first sight

Age increases belief in love at first sight
Love at first sight is not the sole property of the young. As you age, you are more likely to believe in love at first sight, an interesting study reveals....

Age increases belief in love at first sight

People regret spending with bottom dollar in pocket

People regret spending with bottom dollar in pocket
Do you regret buying that pair of shoes or your favourite T-shirt at the fag end of the month? That nagging feeling about your money being wasted is a global phenomenon....

People regret spending with bottom dollar in pocket

Violent rhetoric from CEOs make rivals to play dirty

Violent rhetoric from CEOs make rivals to play dirty
Bosses who try to motivate their employees with violent rhetoric end up motivating rival employees to play dirty, a fascinating research reveals....

Violent rhetoric from CEOs make rivals to play dirty

Is Facebook addiction pushing up divorce cases?

Is Facebook addiction pushing up divorce cases?
If you think excessive Facebook use by your spouse is behind your divorce, then you may be right, says a study....

Is Facebook addiction pushing up divorce cases?

Undress your mind at sexology exhibition in London

Undress your mind at sexology exhibition in London
Get prepared to 'undress your mind' as Wellcome Collection - part of the London-based global charitable foundation Wellcome Trust - is organising the first-ever British exhibition that will bring together pioneering work from world-renowned sexologists under one roof.

Undress your mind at sexology exhibition in London

PrevNext