Reigning Cats and Dogs: A Pet-Enhancement Bias and Its Link to Pet Attachment, Pet-Self Similarity, Self-Enhancement, and Well-Being

Abstract

We extended past research on the self-enhancement bias and the mere ownership effect to examine whether people have favorably distorted views of their pets. Participants in Study 1 rated their own pet and the average pet on a series of desirable and undesirable personality traits. Participants rated their own pet more favorably than the average pet, revealing a pet-enhancement bias. Study 2 found that the extent of bias was positively correlated with pet attachment, pet–self similarity, and self-enhancement. Pet enhancement was also correlated with some indexes of subjective well-being but for only a subsample of participants. Pet–self similarity was more consistently related to well-being. Results are discussed in terms of their relevance to the potential psychological and physiological benefits that can be derived from people's perceptions of their pets.