Domestic Dogs as Facilitators in Social Interaction

An Evaluation of Helping and Courtship Behaviors

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2609239
AutoresNicolas Guéguen (0000-0002-8963-1751, Université de Bretagne-Sud, Lorient, France), Serge Ciccotti (Université de Bretagne-Sud, Vannes, France)
Año2008
Volumen21
Número4
Páginas339-349
Fecha de publicación2008-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAnthrozoös (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0892-7936 • E-ISSN: 1753-0377
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2752/175303708x371564
OpenAlexW1995699974
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas32
Referencias citadas20

Previous studies have suggested that dogs facilitate social interaction between humans. Furthermore, the nature of social interaction is limited to nonverbal behavior such as smiling or gazing or to commonplace conversations. Four studies were carried out in field settings in order to explore if dogs can facilitate closer relationships. In the first experiment, a male confederate (accompanied or not by a dog) solicited people for money in the street. The second experiment was the same except that a female confederate was used. In a third experiment, a male confederate (with or without a dog) accidentally dropped some coins on the ground, to see if people would help him pick them up. In the fourth experiment, a male confederate (with or without a dog) solicited young women in the street for their phone numbers. Results show that the presence of the dog was associated with a higher rate of helping behavior (experiments 1, 2, 3) and higher compliance with the request of the confederate (experiment 4). The influence of a domestic dog as a facilitator to create affiliation and relations in social interaction is discussed

Courtship · Facilitator · Phone · Social facilitation · Social relation · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Human-Animal Interaction Studies · Psychology · Psychology of Social Influence · Social Psychology