Do you love your animals? That may depend on what kind of lover you are, according to a new study. In this context, "beloved" has no sexual connotation, but instead merely describes the fact that one loves someone else. That love can be divided into six recognizable styles:
Eros – an intense, passionate love that is physical, mental and emotional
Ludus – a playful love that does not seek serious involvement, but instead wants to enjoy different partners for various reasons
Storge – a platonic love based on friendship, fidelity and similar values and goals
Pragma – a pragmatic, practical love
Mania – a possessive, dependent, fearful, emotional rollercoaster kind of love
Agape – a compassionate, generous love
These love styles, identified by sociologist John Alan Lee in 1973, have been extensively studied by scientists. Their colleague, a professor of human-animal interaction, collaborated with the researchers to show that these love styles closely resemble one's attitude toward pets.
The researchers surveyed 436 students on an introductory psychology course, using two major scales:the Pet Attitude Scale and the Hendricks Love Style Scale. They found that erotic lovers, those who view their relationship partner favorably and desire intimacy with romantic partners, also rate pets favorably. In contrast, playful lovers, the players who often have many partners and may be dishonest or manipulative, generally view pets in an unfavorable way.
The study also assessed the effects of people's relationship satisfaction and level of social support on their beliefs about pets. They found that people in high-quality romantic relationships and those who feel supported by people close to them have a positive view of pets.
While most of the findings were in line with the researchers' hypotheses, they contained at least one unexpected result.
“We were a little surprised to find that the link between close relationship constructs and pet attitudes was stronger for men than for women, as previous research has shown that women in other contexts tend to have more positive attitudes toward animals. ,” said the researcher.
