Toward a psychology of human-animal relations

2011

Qualitative Research in Psychology , 2024

This article makes the case for the value of qualitative methods in advancing our understanding of human-animal relations and multispecies relations in psychology, introducing the first special issue of a journal dedicated to qualitative psychology and the field of human-animal studies. It offers a thematic summary of the articles organized into four sections. Each section includes a reflection on the methods adopted in the context of broader developments in human-animal studies. To do so, Gorman’s conceptualisation of mutualistic, parasitic, mutualist and commensal relations is utilised, as a basis for deciding whether the methods adopted allow us to consider ‘who benefits and how’ from the human-animal and multispecies relationships scrutinised in this issue. Particularly in showcasing qualitative methods that centre the experience and agency of animals where they have traditionally been discounted, it is concluded that this special issue constitutes a significant moment in the development of psychology as a discipline.

Methods in Human-Animal Studies: Engaging with animals through the social sciences, 2023

In this introduction, authors highlight how the present book builds on, and contributes to, methodological debates in human-animal studies. By providing important context about the state of research in human-animal studies, and the current methodological fragmentation, the introduction orients readers to how, and why, a cohesive discussion of methodological tools is imperative. Authors then review each chapters' contributions, describing authors' central aims of re-focusing our methods to better attend to the animal side of human-animal relations. The introduction ends by discussing important limitations of the book, as well as suggesting ways forward for human-animal scholarship.

Environment and Society: Advances in Research, vol. 4, 2013

In studying the lives and livelihoods of human beings, the social sciences and humanities oft en fi nd their lines of inquiry tugged in the direction of other, nonhuman beings. When Claude Lévi-Strauss (1963) suggested that "thinking with" animals was relevant and fruitful to the study of humankind, scholars began to follow these leads with academic rigor, enthusiasm, and creativity. Propelled into the new millennium by the passion of the environmental movement, compounded by natural and anthropogenic disaster, and now entrenched in the discourse of the Anthropocene, recent scholarship has simultaneously called into question the validity of human exceptionalism and expanded our social and political worlds to include animals and myriad other nonhuman beings. Th is move is paradoxical: as the signifi cance of human action on this planet has increased, the category of the human is continually challenged and redrawn. While contemporary posthumanist critique rethinks the importance of animals and strives to destabilize long-standing ontological exceptions, it does so just as the eff ects of human presence overwhelmingly single out our species as the dominant agents of planetary change (see Chakrabarty 2009; Steff en, Crutzen, and McNeill 2007).

The intuitive sensing of a mental bond between ourselves and especially those animals that live very close to us, our companion animals, has been there since early history. Some ancient Israelite views testify to an irresistibly anthropomorphizing of their domestic animals (Jn 3:5-9) as well as an acknowledgement of the socio-psychological support provided by them (2 Sm 12:1c – 4d). Is there indeed a mental overlap between humans and animals to explain this intuitive experiencing of a bond between ourselves and them? Modern neuroscience, through neuroimaging, has shown that dogs (at least) are able to reciprocate our thoughts and feelings, even be it in a limited way. They seem to have some limited form of a ‘theory of mind’ previously ascribed to humans only. This explains why they have been humans’ ‘best friend’ for the past 12 000 years since they were domesticated from wolves. The intuitions of the ancients and the findings of modern science confirm that we and non-human animals all form intrinsically part of the fascinating web of life.

Rethinking the Human–Animal Relation: New Perspectives in Literature and Theory, 2019

Paragraph - Edinburgh University Press Volume 42, Issue 1, March, 2019

Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 2020

HAS is the only field that directly investigates relationships between human and nonhuman animals and their environment. The forms of bonds, attachments, interactions, and communications under investigation are impressively variable because of (1) the number of species of nonhuman animals, (2) the ingenious (and often exploitative) ways that humans have used other animals, and (3) the ways that humans view other animals. These latter views also have played a critical role in the complex and often contradictory ways that we compare ourselves to them. The different names of the current field reveal these contradictions in their disregard of the fact that humans are also animals.

Animals

The human–animal relationship is ancient, complex and multifaceted. It may have either positive effects on humans and animals or poor or even negative and detrimental effects on animals or both humans and animals. A large body of literature has investigated the beneficial effects of this relationship in which both human and animals appear to gain physical and psychological benefits from living together in a reciprocated interaction. However, analyzing the literature with a different perspective it clearly emerges that not rarely are human–animal relationships characterized by different forms and levels of discomfort and suffering for animals and, in some cases, also for people. The negative physical and psychological consequences on animals’ well-being may be very nuanced and concealed, but there are situations in which the negative consequences are clear and striking, as in the case of animal violence, abuse or neglect. Empathy, attachment and anthropomorphism are human psychologic...

Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies, 2023

Human-animal interaction (HAI) is a growing area of research that examines the ways in which humans and animals interact and the benefits that result from these interactions. This paper reviews the evolution of research into the mutual benefits of HAI over the past several decades. Early research in this area focused primarily on the therapeutic benefits of HAI for humans, particularly in the context of animalassisted therapy. However, more recent research has broadened the scope of HAI research to include a wider range of human-animal interactions, such as pet ownership and animal-assisted activities. One important finding from this research is that HAI can have a range of positive effects on human health and well-being, including reductions in stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as improvements in physical health outcomes such as blood pressure and heart rate. Additionally, HAI has been found to have positive effects on social outcomes, such as increased social support and socialization. Importantly, this research has also demonstrated that HAI is a mutually beneficial interaction, with animals themselves experiencing positive outcomes from interactions with humans. For example, animals involved in animal-assisted activities have been found to have lower stress levels and improved well-being. The purpose of this review is to examine the evolution of research on HAI, starting from its early beginnings to the present day.