First scientific proof that dogs are jealous – Lainformacion.com

<- Multimedia content weight 8 -> <- End multimedia content weight 8 -> MADRID , 24 (EUROPA PRESS)

U.S. Researchers have conducted the first experimental evidence of jealous behavior in dogs. There is a long scientific debate about whether this emotion requires a complex cognition.

Some scientists have even said that jealousy is an entirely social construction, which is not seen in all human cultures and is not established in the same way as other emotions like fear and anger. The new results support the idea that there may be a more basic form of jealousy, which was developed to protect social ties against intruders

study – published in PLOS ONE by Professor of Psychology University of California San Diego Christine Harris and ex student Caroline Prouvost – shows that dogs exhibit more jealous behavior, like pushing his own or the opponent when the owner showing affection to what appeared to be another dog (actually a dog Teddy barked, whined and wagged his tail). The erros exhibited these behaviors only if the owner showed affection for novelty items and much more owner when attention was diverted just reading a book.

“Our study suggests that not only dogs engage in what appear to be jealous behaviors, but also that they are trying to break the connection between the owner and an apparent rival “Harris said. “We really can not talk about the subjective experiences of the dogs, of course, but it seems like they’re motivated to protect an important social relationship.”

LOVE REACTION TO A DOG TEDDY

Since there has been no previous experiments in jealousy dog, the researchers adapted a test used with children 6 months of age. We worked with 36 dogs in their own homes and recorded owners ignoring their pets for an animated toy dog ​​or a lamp pumpkin. In both conditions, the owners were instructed to treat objects as if they were real dogs -. Caressing, talking to them gently, etc.

In the third scenario, owners were asked to read aloud Book emitting melodies. Two independent raters then coded the videos according to a variety of aggressive, disruptive and attention seeking behaviors.

Dogs were twice as likely to push or touch the owner when the owner was interacting with imitation dog (78 percent), as when a business case to Pumpkin (42 percent). Even fewer (22 percent) did in the case of the book. About 30 percent of the dogs tried to stand between its owner and the stuffed animal. And while 25 percent barked “the other dog,” only one did in the other two cases.

Do dogs believe that the stuffed animal was a real rival? Harris and Prouvost write your attitude suggests that it was so. Also cited as further evidence that 86 percent of dogs sniffed the back of the toy dog ​​during the experiment or post-experiment.

Understand jealousy is important, the researchers write, because It is an emotion with important psychological and social consequences. For example, often appears as the third leading cause of non-accidental homicide

“Many people have assumed that jealousy is a social construction of human beings -., Or a specific emotion is linked to sex and romantic, “Harris said. “Our results challenge these ideas, showing that animals , besides ourselves, show a strong anxiety whenever a rival usurps the affections of a loved one.”

( EuropaPress)

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