We are all familiar with the sounds of a cat or dog competing for human attention, and to pet owners, these sounds are especially evocative. Dog noises are especially sad for both cat and dog owners, who even find a howling dog sounds just as sad as a crying baby. These results are reported in a new study.
“Pet ownership is associated with a greater sensitivity to pet noises, and this may be part of the reason why we are willing to devote large amounts of time and resources to our housemates. It may also explain why we find interacting with pets so rewarding, and we are emotionally influenced by positive communication cues, such as purring, meowing, whining or whining,” said the researcher.
The researchers tested more than 500 young adults and found that dog howls sounded more "negative" to dog or cat owners, compared to people without pets, while cat meows sounded sadder to cat owners only. Another finding was that regardless of pet ownership, dog howls sounded sadder than cat meows.
“The result suggests that dogs communicate fear to humans more effectively than cats and that pet ownership is linked to greater emotional sensitivity to these sounds. For sounds that we must respond to, such as a dog who is completely dependent on its human host for food and grooming, it makes sense that we would find these sounds emotionally appealing,” said the researcher.
“In general, we view dog owners more positively than cat owners. In our study, we were able to test how cat owners, dog owners, and pet-free people responded to a range of powerful psychological measures. We found no differences,” says the researcher.
“For symptoms of anxiety, depression and self-reported experiences in close relationships, we found no differences between adults with and without pets. We suggest that cat or dog ownership is not necessarily associated with individual differences in psychological health, at least as tested here.”
