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Perceived Aggressive Tendencies and Functional Attitudes Towards Various Breeds of Dogs

  • April 2017
DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.18017.76646
  • Conference: Southwestern Psychological Association
  • At: San Antonio, Texas
Authors:
Elizabeth M. Briones at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Elizabeth M. Briones
Philip H. Marshall
Philip H. Marshall
Philip H. Marshall
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Abstract

The current study sought to add to the existing literature by evaluating judgements of aggression for specific breeds of dogs, and functional attitudes towards those breeds.
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Perceived Aggressive Tendencies and Functional Attitudes Towards
Various Breeds of Dogs
Elizabeth M. Briones & Philip H. Marshall
Department of Psychological Sciences, Texas Tech University
Introduction
•Little empirical research has focused on the
perceived behavioral differences in breeds of
dogs.
•Common misconceptions of dog behavior
create serious problems for specific breeds
as these perceptions lead to negative
stereotypes and decreased pet ownership
(Protopopova, Gilmour, Weiss, Shen, &
Wynne, 2012 ; Wright, Smith, Daniel, &
Adkins, 2007).
PARTICIPANTS
•n= 274 (comprised of 2 samples)
•age 18 -77 (M= 24.63, SD = 11.10)
•female 78.47%
MATERIALS & PROCEDURE
•30 dog breeds were selected for
inclusion
•aggression ratings on a VAS from
0-10
•six 5-point Likert-type functional
attitudes questions (FA)
•A list of mean ratings for perceived
aggression was produced. The 5 highest and
5 lowest perceived aggressive breeds are
listed:
•The current study sought to add to the
existing literature by evaluating judgements
of aggression for specific breeds of dogs,
and functional attitudes towards those
breeds.
•Our findings suggest as perceived aggression
for specific breeds increases, functional
attitudes about these breeds decrease.
•Specifically, a person’s level of interaction is
affected by the specific breed of dog, such
that people are less likely to interact with
breeds that are perceived to have more
aggressive tendencies.
Are “aggressive” breeds being accurately
represented or do stereotyping myths exist?
•Future studies would benefit from assessing
consistencies between actual measures of
aggression and perceptions of dog breed
behavior.
References
Duffy, D., Hsu, Y., & Serpell, J. (2008). Breed differences in canine aggression. Applied
Animal Behaviour Science, 114(3-4), 441-460.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2008.04.006
Podberscek, A. (1994). Dog on a tightrope: The position of the dog in British society as
influenced by press reports on dog attacks (1988 to 1992). Anthrozoös, 7(4), 232-241.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/089279394787001772
Protopopova, A., Gilmour, A., Weiss, R., Shen, J., & Wynne, C. (2012). The effects of
social training and other factors on adoption success of shelter dogs. Applied Animal
Behaviour Science, 142(1-2), 61-68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2012.09.009
Wells , D., & Hepper, P. (2012). The personality of “aggressive” and “non-aggressive” dog
owners. Personality and Individual Differences, 53(6), 770-773.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.05.038
Wright, J., Smith, A., Daniel, K., & Adkins, K. (2007). Dog breed stereotype and exposure
to negative behavior: Effects on perceptions of adoptability. Journal of Applied Animal
Welfare Science, 10(3), 255-265. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10888700701353956
Method Discussion
Does this dog look friendly
or threatening?
Why?
•The limited research that has investigated
aggressive behaviors has found breed
inconsistencies with those that have
stereotypically been perceived as
“aggressive” (e.g. German Shepherd,
Rottweiler, American Pit Bull Terrier)
(Duffy, Hsu, & Serpell, 2008; Podberscek,
1994; Wells, & Hepper, 2012).
•Alongside measures of perceived aggression
for specific breeds, the current study sought
to explore peoples’ functional attitudes
related to such perceptions.
•To assess if these attitudes coincided with
perceptions of breeds of dogs, we asked
several practical questions about a person’s
intended behaviors toward certain breeds.
Results
Highly
Aggressive
Least Aggressive
Most
Popular
(2015)
Staffordshire Terrier
Greyhound
German Shepherd
Rottweiler
Siberian Husky
Bulldog
Malamute
Whippet
Beagle
Chow Chow
Golden Retriever
French Bulldog
Doberman
Portuguese Water
Dog
Yorkshire Terrier
Saint Bernard
Bernese Mountain
Dog
Poodle
Great Dane
Collie
Pointer (German
shorthaired)
Akita
Labrador Retriever
Dachshund
Mastiff
Brittany Spaniel
Miniature Schnauzer
Boxer
Basset Hound
Australian Shepherd
•Correlation analyses were performed for the
6 functional attitudes questions (FA) and
mean perceived aggression for all 30 breeds:
Breed
Mean
agg
.
rating
Rottweiler
5.67
Doberman
Pinscher
5.46
German
Shepherd
5.13
Boxer
4.97
Staffordshire
Terrier
4.92
Breed
Mean
agg
.
rating
Collie
2.58
Australian
Shepherd
2.45
Beagle
2.29
Golden
Retriever
2.24
Basset Hound
2.05
Aggression
FA1
- child
-.91**
FA2
- park
-.93**
FA3
- live
-.81**
FA4
- pay
-.39*
FA5
- exp
-.22
FA6
- own
-.06
Note.
Bonferroni corrected alpha p = .008.
* < .05, ** < .008.
Acknowledgments
Breed images © the American Kennel Club (AKC), used with permission.
Presented at the Meetings of the Southwestern
Psychological Association, San Antonio, TX, 2017
Contact information: elizabeth.briones@ttu.edu
... • Previous research has shown that ratings of perceived aggressiveness in dog breeds results in distinct categories (Briones & Marshall, 2017). ...
... • Breeds were categorized into 3 groups (High, Medium, and Low) based on perceived aggressiveness ratings obtained elsewhere (Briones & Marshall, 2017). ...
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The purpose of the study was to determine if brief exposure to a dog behaving badly or in a friendly manner affects subsequent perceptions of the target dog's and other dogs' adoptability. Participants viewed a videotape of an adoptable German shepherd behaving either aggressively or prosocially and were then asked to rate the characteristics and adoptability of the same and different dogs. The results showed that people who saw the aggressive behavioral schema perceived only the target dog and a dog of the same breed to be significantly less adoptable than dogs of other breeds (p<.01). Results of a principal components analysis showed participants perceived the adoptability of dogs to be related to "sociability": Adoptable dogs were more approachable, friendly, intelligent, and less dangerous and aggressive (p<.01). Brief exposure to a misbehaving dog prior to making a decision to adopt may unfairly penalize other dogs perceived to be similar to the misbehaving dog.
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The relationship between pet-keeping and owner personality has attracted considerable attention. Little focus, however, has been directed towards the personality of pet owners in relation to the type of pet owned. This study therefore explored the personality of pet owners in relation to the type of dog breed owned, focusing specifically on owners of breeds widely considered to be “aggressive” versus those more generally perceived as “non-aggressive”. One hundred and forty seven owners of “aggressive” (German shepherd dogs, Rottweilers) or “non-aggressive” (Labrador retrievers, Golden retrievers) dog breeds completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire short scale. Breed of dog owned was significantly related to owners’ psychoticism scores, with people who kept “aggressive” dogs having significantly higher scores on this trait than owners of “non-aggressive” dogs. Dog breed ownership was not significantly related to neuroticism, extraversion or lie scale scores, although male owners of “aggressive” dogs were found to be significantly less neurotic than women who kept “aggressive” or “non-aggressive” dogs. Overall, findings suggest that there is a significant relationship between dog breed ownership and specific personality traits, with owners of breeds widely considered to be “aggressive” harbouring more psychotic tendencies than people who choose to keep dogs with a reputedly less aggressive temperament.
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The aim of the present study was to increase adoption rates of dogs housed in shelters. Previous research suggests that the public perceives friendly and sociable dogs as more adoptable. The present study hypothesized that dogs trained to gaze into potential adopters’ eyes would be perceived as more attractive and would therefore have a greater likelihood of being adopted. In addition, we investigated other individual factors that may predict adoption success. For each dog in the study, we tracked outcome (adoption or euthanasia), physical characteristics, and how they were acquired by the shelter. Dogs in a group trained to gaze at people were not significantly more likely to be adopted than untrained dogs in a control group (70.7% in the training group vs. 67.8% in the control group, P>0.10). However, breed type, mode of intake (how dogs were taken into the shelter), and kennel location were predictive of adoption (P<0.001, P<0.05. and P<0.05 respectively) and size, breed type, and mode of intake were predictive of length of stay (P<0.05, P=0.05, and P<0.01 respectively). In a second experiment, participants unaware of the dogs’ outcomes (adoption or euthanasia) rated photographs of the dogs, according to attractiveness, on a scale ranging from 0 to 1. The average rating of attractiveness for the adopted and euthanized group were significantly different: 0.50 (SD=0.08) for adopted dogs and 0.46 (SD=0.09) for the euthanized dogs (P<0.05). These findings suggest that other factors besides gazing may be more important to adopters when considering adoption of a dog.
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