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Key study: Van Houtte and Jarvis (1995)

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Van Houtte and Jarvis (1995), 'The Role of Pets in Preadolescent Psychosocial Development', asked whether owning a pet helps children's self-concept and self-esteem.

Aim and procedure

Aim: to see whether owning a pet affects children's self-concept, self-esteem, autonomy (independence) and attitudes to animals.
Participants: 130 preadolescent children in the USA, roughly half pet owners (cats or dogs) and half non-owners.
Design: pet owners were matched with non-owners on background factors, such as whether their parents were married and their social class, to reduce participant variables.
Procedure: children completed questionnaires measuring self-concept, self-esteem, autonomy and attachment to pets.

Results and conclusion

Results: pet owners scored higher on autonomy than non-owners. Older pet owners, close to adolescence, had higher self-esteem and self-concept than matched non-owners.
Conclusion: pets may help children's development, especially just before adolescence, possibly because a pet gives unconditional love and a chance to take responsibility. This links to Rogers' idea of unconditional positive regard.

Evaluation

Strengths: matched pairs reduced the effect of background differences. Standardised questionnaires gave quantitative data that could be compared. There is a useful application: pets might help children with low self-esteem.
Weaknesses: the data is self-report, so children may not answer accurately. It cannot show cause and effect: families who own pets may differ in other ways. It only included cats and dogs, and one area of the USA, so it may not generalise.
Worked example

Why did the researchers match pet owners with non-owners?

  1. Background factors such as parents' marital status or social class could affect self-esteem.
  2. Matching made the groups similar, so differences were more likely to be due to the pet.

Answer: To control participant variables, so any difference could be linked to owning a pet.

Key idea

Van Houtte and Jarvis (1995) matched pet-owning and non-owning children and found owners had more autonomy, and older owners had higher self-esteem and self-concept. Pets may support development before adolescence, but the questionnaire data cannot prove cause and effect.

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