An investigation into associations with attachment, companion pet attachment, empathy, and prosocial behaviors in 18-20 year old college students: A mixed methods study

This study examines empathy, parental attachment, companion pet attachment and social behaviors in a sample of 120 students between the ages of 18-20 enrolled at Front Range Community College in Westminster CO during the fall semester 2008. The study is based on the research questions posed by Thompson and Gullone (2008) but pays particular attention to the relationships between and among variables measured in that study as well as their association with variables indicating companion pet companionship. The research questions are: (1) does parental empathic attachment predict prosocial and antisocial behaviors during older adolescence or young adulthood? And (2) does pet attachment compensate for low parental attachment? The hypotheses are that (1) parental attachment varies directly with empathy, humane treatment of animals, and prosocial behavior and inversely with antisocial behavior (animal cruelty); (2) pet attachment varies directly with empathy, humane treatment of animals and prosocial behavior and inversely with antisocial behavior (animal cruelty); and (3) pet attachment compensates for low parental attachment, serving as a moderating variable.