The Relationship between College Students and their Pets
Disciplines
Psychology
Abstract (300 words maximum)
The purpose of this research was to see how the quality of a person’s attachment to their pet affects their perception of the amount of social support they are receiving. We recruited a sample of 309 undergraduate students who were pet owners. Students were enrolled in a General Psychology course at Kennesaw State University during Spring 2017. Data were collected using SurveyMonkey®. To measure the quality of pet attachment, we used the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale. To measure perceived social support, we adapted the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. There was a significant relationship between quality of attachment to one’s pet and perceived social support [r(307) = 0.77, p > 0.001, r2 = 0.59]. We also collected demographic data on variables such as ethnicity, gender, year in college, type of pet owned, number of years of pet ownership, and pet gender. We studied how these different variables affected the quality of pet attachment and perceived social support.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
RCHSS - Psychological Science
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Suma Mallavarapu
The Relationship between College Students and their Pets
The purpose of this research was to see how the quality of a person’s attachment to their pet affects their perception of the amount of social support they are receiving. We recruited a sample of 309 undergraduate students who were pet owners. Students were enrolled in a General Psychology course at Kennesaw State University during Spring 2017. Data were collected using SurveyMonkey®. To measure the quality of pet attachment, we used the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale. To measure perceived social support, we adapted the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. There was a significant relationship between quality of attachment to one’s pet and perceived social support [r(307) = 0.77, p > 0.001, r2 = 0.59]. We also collected demographic data on variables such as ethnicity, gender, year in college, type of pet owned, number of years of pet ownership, and pet gender. We studied how these different variables affected the quality of pet attachment and perceived social support.