Van Houtte and Jarvis (1995)

Trying to measure levels of self-esteem and self-worth is difficult because this is a very personal issue and cannot be assessed by using scientific methods. Therefore, researchers have to come up with ideas that can work around the lack of scientific method to try and find out what influences on self-esteem actually are. Van Houtte and Jarvis were interested in finding out if pets were good for people, in other words, did owning a pet increase feelings of self-esteem?

Aim

The researchers aimed to investigate the impact of pet ownership on adolescent personality and if this provided evidence in terms of self-esteem and a more positive self-concept.

Their hypothesis was that those adolescents who owned a pet would report higher levels of autonomy and self-esteem than those who did not.

Method

• Participants were 130 white American school children (71 boys and 59 girls) aged between 8 and 13 years
• A matched pairs design was used and children were matched by siblings, parents’ marital status and wealth
• Participants were separated into two groups: pet ownership and non-pet ownership
• Each participant was given a questionnaire, which aimed to measure levels of autonomy, self-concept and self-esteem as well as attachment to animals
• Autonomy was measured on a 4-point scale, self-concept on a 5-point scale, self-esteem on a 4-point scale and attachment to animals on a 7-point scale. Each scale began with 1 (strongly agree) upwards to ‘strongly disagree’
• All children were fully debriefed after the research took place and letters sent home to parents to confirm that all children who said that they had a pet did in fact own one

Results

• Generally, higher self-esteem was reported in pet owners than non-pet owners
• At age 11, it was found that owning a pet had a positive effect on self-esteem
• Higher autonomy levels were reported across all age groups who owned a pet

Conclusions

The researchers concluded that a pet is influential on children as they move into adolescence. They also suggested that having a pet might be useful in raising a child’s self-esteem levels. There was an implication that pets can offer unconditional positive regard for pet owners of all ages.

Strengths of the study

• The research found an original way of measuring levels of self-esteem, as this is notoriously difficult
• Findings may indicate ways in which to help children who are experiencing low self-esteem so the research has a practical application

Weaknesses of the study

• There is an issue with using questionnaires as a measure of self-report as these are not reliable. Children may have been dishonest and they may not have understood the concepts that they were asked about
• The results cannot be generalised as the sample size was small and only drawn from one culture
• The quantitative data that was produced may not be enough to fully understand complex concepts such as self-esteem.