Dog ownership enhances anchored personal relationships and sense of community: A comparison with incidental interactions and friendships

Abstract

Dogs are known to be catalysts for human-human relationships. However, there is insufficient quantitative research that directly compares dog owners’ human-human relationships with those of non-owners. This study focused on whether dog owners are more likely to have human-human relationships and engage in social interactions within their neighborhoods. A previous model considered incidental interactions—which occur spontaneously between passersby in public settings—and friendships, as human-human relationships fostered by dog ownership. This study also considered anchored personal relationships, which are the types of relationships that dog owners would typically cultivate within their neighborhoods. Anchored personal relationships are relationships highly embedded within a social context and exist solely in a shared time, place, and activity. This study examined the associations between dog ownership and incidental interactions, friendships, and anchored personal relationships. We also examined the potential mediating effects of these relationships on the association between dog ownership and a sense of community. Analyzed data included 377 participants from a social survey conducted in a suburb of the Tokyo metropolitan area. We used generalized structural equation modeling to examine indirect effects. The findings revealed a positive correlation between dog ownership and having anchored personal relationships, as well as between dog ownership and having incidental interactions. However, after controlling for demographics, dog ownership did not increase the likelihood of having friends in one’s neighborhood. All types of relationships were positively correlated with a stronger sense of community. However, only anchored personal relationships mediated the effect of dog ownership on sense of community. These findings support the proposition that anchored personal relationships should be considered alongside incidental interactions and friendships when studying human-human relationships fostered by dog ownership. Furthermore, exploratory analyses revealed that ownership of cats and other pets were not correlated with the relationships or a stronger sense of community.