The bond between human and dog is an incredible thing.
It’s amazing to see what people will do for their beloved dogs, whether it’s throwing them an extravagant birthday party or making sure they only eat the highest quality kibble.
Now, research from Northeastern University in Boston suggests that the human-canine bond trumps almost all other relationships.
For their study, Northeastern professors Jack Levin and Arnold Arluke set out to find out just how strongly we feel about dogs compared to adults and children.
The co-authors gathered 240 men and women between the ages of 18 and 25 and measured their levels of empathy when told about the suffering of a dog, compared to the suffering of a child or adult.
Unsurprisingly, stories of a dog’s suffering and a child’s suffering elicited the strongest responses from participants, whereas stories of adult victims made the respondents “significantly less distressed.”
Keep scrolling to learn more about this fascinating study on human empathy, and make sure to SHARE it with your dog-loving friends!
[H/T: Unilad]
New research suggests that humans care more about their canine companions than they do about one another.
This research comes from the Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict at Northeastern University in Boston.
For the study, co-authors Jack Levin and Arnold Arluke set out to determine how empathy works in the human brain.
Professors Levin and Arluke gathered 240 men and women between the ages of 18 and 25 and asked them to read a series of fictional news stories about different subjects being beaten — a toddler, a 30-something adult, a puppy, and a 6-year-old dog.
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