Effects Of Cute Pets On Emotional Processing Of College Students

"Both dogs and cats" has become a new standard for young people to measure a better life.Numerous studies have shown that cute pets have a variety of positive effects on human physical and mental health.And the researchers suggest that these positive effects may be achieved through emotional support.On the basis of previous studies,this study further studied the influence of cute pets on human beings from the perspective of emotion,and examined the influence of cute pets on contemporary college students emotion.Specifically,three studies were carried out as follows:In the first study,questionnaire survey was used to examine the influence of cute cats and dogs on the life and mood of young people.The results of study 1 are as follows: Only children score higher on liking dogs and cats;People who owned dogs and cats had higher levels of depression;There was a significant positive correlation between cat and dog affection and life satisfaction,and a significant negative correlation with loneliness;People who love cats and dogs have higher life satisfaction,lower loneliness,and higher extraversion,higher openness and lower neuroticism in the Big Five personality traits.In the second study,the influence of cute pets on individual emotional processing was examined using the modified classical experimental paradigm of emotional processing.The whole process was recorded and analyzed using ERP technology.The experiment uses two factors within subjects design with 3 priming stimuli(cat and dog,chicken and duck,vase)×2 emotional stimulation(positive emotion,negative emotion).The dependent variables were the emotional valence and arousal rating of emotional images as behavioral indicators,and the LPP wave of watching emotional images as EEG indicators.Although the behavioral results did not find the effect of watching cute cat and dog pictures on individual emotional processing,EEG results showed that LPP waves at P3 and P4 in pariet al.region had significant priming effect.And under the condition of positive and negative emotions,when the priming stimulus was cat or dog,the LPP amplitude of the emotional picture was smaller than that the priming stimulus was chicken or duck or vase.Study 3 investigated the influence of watching cute pets video on individual emotional state.And EEG signals were collected to explore whether machine learning algorithms can distinguish the dynamic functional connections between different brain regions when individuals watch cute pets video and neutral video.The behavioral results showed that after watching the cute pet video,the score of positive emotion was higher than that of neutral video,and the score of negative emotion was lower than that of neutral video.And the model based on machine learning can well distinguish the dynamic functional connections of different brain regions when individuals watch neutral video and cute pets video.The conclusions of the study are as follows:(1)Young college students have a higher liking for cute cats and dogs,and only children prefer cute cats and dogs;People who owned dogs and cats had higher rates of depression.Those who liked cute cats and dogs were more likely to show higher life satisfaction and lower loneliness.And in the big five personality,they are high extroversion,high openness and low neuroticism.(2)Viewing pictures of cute pets had an effect on the emotional processing of those who loved cats and dogs.Viewing pictures of cute pets before emotional events can alleviate negative emotions and keep positive emotions in moderate range.(3)Watching videos of cute pets can influence the emotional state of people who like cats and dogs,increase positive emotions and relieve negative emotions.