Infantilizing Companion Animals through Attachment Theory
Why Shift to Behavioral Ecology-Based Paradigms for Welfare
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12419275 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Amelia Lewis (0000-0002-9337-214X, Department of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast Northern Ireland, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 178-195 |
| Publication date | 2020-09-18 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Society and Animals (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1063-1119 • E-ISSN: 1568-5306 |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/15685306-bja10011 |
| OpenAlex | W3087851038 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 20 |
Attachment theory, proposed in the 1950s to understand the development of parent-child relationships, is often applied to human–companion animal relationships. I argue the application of this paradigm to test nonhuman animals’ social bonds with humans infantilizes mature animals and has a detrimental impact on animal welfare. The premise is that Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Test is inappropriate to investigate the emotional ties between domestic animals and humans. Instead, I propose an alternative theory, that dogs form mature social bonds with their guardians, and that the phenomenon known as separation anxiety is the result either of the frustration of mature adult group behaviors, or an overdependency fostered by the guardian. Rather than view mature dogs as comparable to human infants in their social relationships, we should perceive them as socially and emotionally mature at adulthood and shift the focus from attachment-based paradigms to the behavioral ecology and cognition of companion animals
Animal welfare · Attachment theory · Biology · Developmental psychology · Epistemology · Guardian · Political science · Premise · Social animal · Welfare · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Human-Animal Interaction Studies · Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior · Psychology · Social Psychology · Ecology
Oxytocin-gaze positive loop and the coevolution of human-dog bonds
Social Projection of Transient Drive States
Putting the Altruism Back into Altruism
Attachment between humans and dogs
Psychobiological mechanisms underlying the social buffering of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical axis
Parenthood and Marital Satisfaction
History and Ethics of Keeping Pets
Patterns of Gazing in Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)
Intentional communication by chimpanzees
The origins of attachment theory
Psychological Bulletin
Attachment, Exploration, and Separation
The Ecology of Collaborative Child Rearing
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |