Exploring the Relationship between Human and Companion Animals with Attachment Theory

• Main Authors: Yuan Chiang, 江原
• Other Authors: Yu-Chin Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/08000416551298277867

碩士 === 世新大學 === 公共關係暨廣告學研究所(含碩專班) === 103 === Animal keeping is a ballooning trend nowadays. With many fines pun and personified products sprung up for animals, the relationship among keepers and animals are evolving from regarding them simply as a “pet” toward a “family member or a lover,” namely a “companion animal.” However, studies conducted within this context are relatively less so a research gap exists and needs to be filled. Hence, this study focus on the attachment between keepers and their animals, trying to explore how they interact, what affection generates when they interact, the importance and the role of the generated affection to keepers. The current study tried to respond four research questions to examine keepers attachment toward their companion animals, by realizing the motives of animal-keeping, animal-naming, the power relation among family members after animal-keeping started, and finally by observing daily interaction regarding food care, body care, medical care, used products and ritual festivals between the keepers and their animals. The research conducted In-depth interview, recruiting participants over 20 years old, financially independent, at least having one-year experience of animal keeping, and whose animals allowed to freely move around in the house. The recruitment began on Dec. 1st 2013 and ended on March. 31st 2014. Findings reveal that seniors at home are the decision makers for animals keeping and most of them agree so even they might be reluctant to keep animals at home at first. Companion animals can soften family members’ attitudes and behaviors toward themselves, so the role setting is the cornerstone to build up the attachment between keepers and animals. Their roles also can alter spatially from place to place, such as a “child of the keepers” at the rented place and becoming a “child of all family members” at keepers’ original house. Daily interaction can help change the role of companion animals into a family member or someone important, and keepers will be likely to sense their responsibility to take care of their animals till they die. Findings also show that one participant see her companion animal as a lover, which cannot be categorized into Hirschman’s role setting category. The strong dependence on the companion animal stresses the importance of companionship, especially for single family covering up the emotional lost effectively. Finally, the research ends up with implications, suggesting replacing pets as companion animals so as to remind people to treat them as their companions and showing more sympathy to them.