New Zealand scientists from the University of Auckland revealed the ability to jealous the owners. They found out that dogs are able to experience real jealousy, the study is published in the magazine Psychological Science.
Experts conducted an experiment with the participation of 18 pets and their owners.
Volunteers were placed in two rooms, in one of which was a fleece cylinder, a realistic doll was placed in another. In both rooms, people had to interact with objects, while pets watched them. Animals, seeing like the owner plays with supposedly another pet, showed obvious signs of jealousy. They continued to jealous, even when there was an impenetrable screen between them and the owners with the “rival”. However, dogs whose owners played with the figure, did not show any emotions.
Scientists came to the conclusion that the dog is jealous only when the owner interacts with the alleged social opponent. Also, jealousy arises as a consequence of this interaction, and not because of the “simple presence of conversation.” In addition, experts found out that jealousy was manifested even with an invisible interaction between the owner of the dog and the alleged opponent.
According to scientists, the experimental results confirm the information that the dogs show jealousy, and are the first evidence that pets can mentally represent the casual social interactions.
Previously, scientists have established the relationship between breeds of dogs and the chances of their owners to find a soul mate. It turned out that girls with Staffordshire bull terriers attract more attention. In second place in popularity among women there are owners of Chihuahua, and on the third – the owner of mixed breeds. Among the men, the owners of Jack Russell Terriers were the most popular.
In January, British psychologists rated the influence of cats to work their owners on the remote. As it turned out, their presence in the house has a positive effect on the remote work of employees, since the pets help them get rid of stress and raise the mood.