Study on jealousy: like dogs, like humans

Most dog owners know that their four-legged friends experience jealousy whenever the attention they seek is diverted to someone or something else. A study published in PLOS ONE (July 23, 2014), a scientific journal, confirms that dogs do get jealous. Other scientists say the research may influence human studies on the complex emotion.

Christine Harris, professor of psychology at the University of California, San Diego, conducted the dog jealousy study. She gave dog owners three objects: (1) a picture book that the owners read aloud, (2) a toy dog that moved and barked, and (3) an object that their own dog had never seen before (a lolly bucket). The dog owners were asked to treat the toy dog and bucket like real dogs – pat them, talk to them, and play with them. Of course they had to do this in front of their own dogs.

The results of the study showed that 80% of dogs pushed or touched their owners whenever the owner was cuddling the toy dog or lolly bucket. They did this twice as much when the toy dog was given attention than when the bucket was given attention, and four times more than when their owner was reading the book. And 25% of dogs snapped or barked at the toy dog. Only one dog barked at the bucket and the book.

Harris maintains that the dogs' reactions suggest a basic instinct for jealousy – and to express a visual display of displeasure. Some had violent reactions when they perceived a rival was given the attention they wanted or expected.

The research studied only 36 dogs, but Harris thinks it may lead to further studies on jealous behaviour – of dogs and humans. “It suggests that some of our ideas about the nature of jealousy, like that it requires complex cognition, are incorrect,” Harris said. “All you need is a loved one and a rival.”

The study may lead to how and why jealousy evolved, from infancy to adulthood. Once researchers understand how jealousy develops, they can understand what aspects are unhealthy, and what leads to violent reactions. “Jealousy has tremendous human consequences,” Harris said. “And for adult humans it’s very complex. We think about these experiences after they occur, wondering if they mean that we’re unlovable or ugly, or if we’re going to lose our best friend or our lover. It’s a very rich emotion.”

www.canberratimes.com.au July 25, 2014

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