Social Relations, Emotional Relatedness to a Pet and Life Satisfaction in Dog Owners

Empirical findings systematically confirm the positive pet effect on health and psychophysical well-being of pet owners. At the same time, the structure and subjective quality of the owner's social milieu could be important for the development of an emotional bond with a pet. Also, it seems that the quality of interpersonal relations determines the way in which the relationship with a pet is reflected on the owner's well-being. The aim of this research was to investigate the strength and direction of the relation between emotional relatedness to a pet and life satisfaction in pet owners, while controling for effects of variables indicating the owner's social milieu, and also to analyze their possible moderating effects. There were 219 dog owners who completed a paper-pencil questionnaire form. The following data was collected: general sociodemographic information and short estimation of social support, the experience of loneliness, life satisfaction and emotional relatedness to a pet. Emotional relatedness to a pet is a positive predictor of life satisfaction in dog owners, even when effects of the quality of social milieu are controled. Social loneliness is a moderator of the relation between emotional closeness to a pet dog and life satisfaction. Data on interpersonal relations quality are necessary in the research of pet ownership implications.