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Pet ownership, pet attitudes and empathy development in russian adolescents

Introduction. Article investigates the link between pet ownership and empathy development of Russian adolescents. It considers how pet ownership is related to positive attitudes to pets, how pet ownership influences the development of empathy components with adolescents and how positive attitudes are connected to the development of empathy. Materials and methods. Attitudes to pets were measured with Pet Attitudes Scale, cruelty to animals was measured with Cruelty to Animals Inventory in author’s translation and adaptation. Empathy was measured with Interpersonal Rectivity Index in adaptation of Т.D. Karyagina, N.V. Kukhtova. The Study sample consisted of 138 adolescents of 12-15 age (mean 13,81), of them 89 (64,5%) were boys. Results. Girls have more positive attitudes to pets than boys. Pet owners are also having more positive attitudes to pets than those who don’t have a pet. 45,8% of those who don’t have a pet were cruel to animals, and 49,0% of pet owners were also cruel to animals (difference is not significant). Pet owners have higher perspective-taking than not-owners. Positive pet attitudes were significantly related to developed empathy: perspective-taking, empathic fantasy and empathic concern. Discussion and Conclusions. The results show that pet ownership is positively affecting pet attitudes in adolescence. In its turn, positive attitudes are influenced by higher empathy. However, pet ownership is not necessarily developing empathy by itself. It is important to form positive attitudes to pets in adolescents.