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A survey on the attitudes of psychology students towards the use of animals in
medical research
Feryl Badiani
Under-graduate student, Department of Psychology, Sophia College, Mumbai
Sagar Karia
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical
College, Mumbai.
Avinash De Sousa
Research Associate, Department of Psychiatry, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical
College, Mumbai.
Original Research Paper
Medicine
INTRODUCTION:
Animal res ear ch refers to the use of non-human animals in
[1 ]
ex peri men tati on, prima ril y for huma n ben efit. An ima l
experimentation has created a binary of responses, with supporters of
animal experimentation on one side and objectors of such kind of
[2]
research on the other. Supporters of animal research include the
father of physiology, Claude Bernard, who stated that “experiments on
animals are entirely conclusive for the toxicology and hygiene of man.
The effects of these substances are the same on man as on animals, save
[3]
for differences in degree”. Hence, supporters of animal research
based on the principle suggested by Bernard argue that animal research
reveals much about human biology that would not have been possible
otherwise. They further argue that animal research also reveals
[4]
inf or ma tion abo ut hu ma n b eh aviou r. The cont ri bu tions of
behavioural research on animals in the field of psychology are
undisputable and are believed to have laid the foundation for the
[5]
treatmen t of phobias, drug addiction and anxiet y di sorders.
Furthermore, animal research has facilitated the study of the neural
basis for schizophrenia, retrograde amnesia, depression and a wide
[6]
range of other psychological phenomenon. It is due to these reasons
that the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1990)
stated that “the use of animals has been and continues to be essential in
applied research with direct clinical applications in humans and
[7]
animals”. On the other hand, people argue that animal research is
unethical as animals are abused during the course of the experiment,
and are reduced to mere tools for furthering human knowledge and
[8]
benefits. Proponents of this opinion often believe that and that
animals should have an equal right to live a full life, free of pain and
suffering as humans; and thus believe that animal research practices
[9]
should be abolished. Such a paradoxical response is attributed to
varying attitudes towards animal research, which are affected by
various factors. Researchers have broadly divided these factors into
fo ur ca t ego rie s : per son al, c ult u ral , ani mal a n d res ear ch
[10]
characteristics.
While, there is much literature on how these factors influence the
public attitudes of people towards animal research in the west, the
[11]
same literature is almost non-existent in India. Hence, in order to
understand the attitude of psychology students in India towards animal
research, the following study was undertaken.
METHODOLOGY:
The subjects of our study included under-graduate psychology
students studying in colleges of Mumbai city. They were administered
a questionnaire which was framed by the authors via emails, social
media or in person. The questionnaire included a number of questions
asking about what they felt regarding animals being used in research
and their suggestions were asked about the alternatives available or
which animals can be used for research. The data collected from
consenting students and entered in Microsoft excel sheet and analysed.
The questionnaire used in the study was validated by 3 senior
researchers p rior to be ing administered to the st udents. The
psychology students were studying in the undergraduate (B.A.) course
in psychology across various colleges in the city of Mumbai. All
students were in the final year of the undergraduate studies. The
students were explained about the aims and objectives of the study and
a written informed valid consent was obtained from all students prior
to the administration of the questionnaire. The data obtained was
analyzed using descriptive statistics and percentages.
RESULTS:
Our study population included a total of 202 students in age group of
18- 21 years doing their final year of Bachelors in Psychology of which
we had 33 (16.33%) males and 169 (83.66%) females. Only 50
students (24.75%) had ever visited animal house/ animal laboratory in
the past and only 29 (14.36%) of them had actual experience of
handling animals mainly in form of dissection studies on rats and
cockroaches. None of them had any experience with animal research.
Majority of them believed that animal research had no bearing on
problems concerning humans (43.6%, n = 88) and 27.7% (n=56) of
them were of neutral opinion. Almost 84% (n=168) of them were
concerned of pain and suffering animals would have undergoing
research but only 30% (n=60) of them preferred human patients dying
for want of animal research. Not many were in favour that new drugs
and surgical procedures should be tested in animals before being used
for humans and almost 62% (n=126) thought there were other
alternatives available for conducting research in this regards. Various
options suggested were animal clones, tissue culture, 3 D printing and
artificial cells and tissue, plants tissues, consenting humans, terminally
ill humans and criminal offenders. When asked about which animals
should be allowed for use in research rats, mouse, monkeys, insects
were suggested for using by our study population.
Only 16 students were aware of ethical guidelines for animal research.
Almost 79% (n=159) of them were in favour that animals should be
treated at same levels as humans for their rights and 90% (n=182) of
them voted for stringent regulations for ethical practice in animal
research in India. Only 42% (n=84) were in favour of totally abolishing
Background: Psychology courses and psychology students have very poor understanding of animal research and the
ethical issues involved in animal research. This is despite the fact that animal research plays a vital role in behavioural
research. The study was aimed to survey the attitudes of psychology students towards animal research.
Methodology: A total of 202 undergraduate students in the final year of their undergraduate studies from various colleges of Mumbai were
administered a semi-structured questionnaire on attitudes towards animal research. The questionnaire was validated by three senior researchers
and was specially designed for the study. The data was collected and analysed using descriptive statistics and percentages.
Results: Only 50 students (24.75%) had ever visited animal house/ animal laboratory in the past and only 29 (14.36%) of them had actual
experience of handling animals mainly in form of dissection studies on rats and cockroaches. Majority of them believed that animal research had
no bearing on problems concerning humans (43.6%, n = 88) and 27.7% (n=56) of them were of neutral opinion. Almost 84% (n=168) of them
were concerned of pain and suffering animals would have undergoing research. 90% students voted in favour of stringent ethical guidelines for
animal research.
Conclusion: Animal research awareness is poor in undergraduate psychology students and there is a need to incorporate the same in their
curriculum to help foster better understanding of animal research and its long term implications.
ABSTRACT
KEYWORDS : animals, animal research, ethics, psychology, psychology students.
Volume-7 | Issue-10 | October-2017 | 4.894ISSN - 2249-555X | IF : | IC Value : 79.96
INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH
154
animal research. All the major findings of the survey are in Table 1.
DISCUSSION:
Psychology students usually have very little exposure to ethics and
animal research during their training and studies. Hence we expected
some unusual answers after administering the questionnaire. Ethical
[12]
guidelines is rarely taught in the undergraduate curriculum. Majority
of the students voted for stringent ethical regulations with regard to
animal research in India. This was heartening as they had the same
respect for humans and animals in a research perspective. Usually
animal research has taken a backseat in India and it is only recently that
various animal activist organizations have been laying down the rules
[13]
and regulations for animal research. Some students were in favour of
abolishing animal research. This would be a travesty for neuroscience
and psychiatry as animal research serves as building blocks for drug
[14]
and neuroscience research in humans. Overall we perceived that
undergraduate psychology had a poor knowledge of animal research
and the ethical issues concerned with the same. This led to some of the
answers given by them. There is a need for inclusion of research ethics
as a topic with both human and animal research in undergraduate
curriculums so that awareness about the same may be increased. The
study was circumscribed to just 202 students and this served as a
limitation of the study. Larger studies in diverse populations of
psychology students across various cities are needed to draw an Indian
perspective. Nevertheless awareness about animal research needs to be
created in psychology students at an undergraduate level.
Table 1 – Answers to questionnaire given by the psychology
students
REFERENCES:
1. von Roten FC. Public perceptions of animal experimentation across Europe. Public
Understanding of Science 2013;22(6):691-703.
2. Kilkenny C, Browne W, Cuthill IC, Emerson M, Altman DG. Animal research: reporting
in vivo experiments: the ARRIVE guidelines. Br J Pharmacol 2010;160(7):1577-9.
3. Bernard C. An introduction to the study of experimental medicine. Courier Corporation;
1957.
4. Hackam D G. Translating anima l research into clinical benefit. BMJ 2007;334
(7586):163.
5. Ressler KJ, Mayberg HS. Targeting abnormal neural circuits in mood and anxiety
disorders: from the laboratory to the clinic. Nat Neurosci 2007;10(9):1116-24.
6. Watanabe Y, Someya T, Nawa H. Cytokine hypothesis of schizophrenia pathogenesis:
evid ence fr om hum an stud ies and animal models . Psych iatr Cl in Neur osci
2010;64(3):217-30.
7. Plous S, Herzog H. Reliability of protocol reviews for animal research. Science
2001;293(5530):608-9.
8. Kimmel AJ. Ethical issues in behavioral research: Basic and applied perspectives. John
Wiley & Sons; 2009.
9. Cap lan AL. E thical issues raised by res earch i nvolvi ng xeno grafts . JAMA
1985;254(23):3339-43.
10. Knight S, Herzog H. All creatures great and small: New perspectives on psychology and
human–animal interactions. J Soc Issues 2009;65(3):451-61.
11. Knight S, Vrij A, Bard K, Brandon D. Science versus human welfare? Understanding
attitudes toward animal use. J Soc Issues 2009;65(3):463-83.
12. Knight A. Systematic reviews of animal experiments demonstrate poor contributions
toward human healthcare. Rev Recent Clin Trials 2008;3(2):89-96.
13. Pifer L, Shimizu K, Pifer R. Public attitudes toward animal research: Some international
comparisons. Society Animals 1994;2(2):95-113.
155
INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH
Volume-7 | Issue-10 | October-2017 | 4.894ISSN - 2249-555X | IF : | IC Value : 79.96
Question /
Statements
Strongly
agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
Medical research on
animals has little
bearing on the
problems confronting
people
16
(7.9%)
42
(20.8%)
56
(27.7%)
69
(34.2%)
19
(9.4%)
I am very concerned
about the pain and
suffering animals
undergo during
animal research
103
(51%)
67
(33.2%)
29
(14.4%)
2
(1%)
1
(0.5%)
I would rather see
human patients die of
disease than see
animals slaughtered
to save humans via
research
23
(11.4%)
38
(18.8%)
72
(35.6%)
52
(25.7%)
17
(8.4%)
Animal research may
give us scientific data
but very little of this
is applicable to
human beings
9
(4.5%)
71
(35.1%)
54
(26.7%)
61
(30.2%)
7
(3.5%)
New surgical
procedures and
experimental drugs
must be tested on
animals prior to
studying them in
humans
6
(3%)
31
(15.3%)
37
(18.3%)
86
(42.6%)
42
(20.8%)
There are plenty of
viable alternatives to
the use of animals in
biomedical and
behavioural brain
research
27
(13.4%)
99
(49%)
55
(27.2%)
21
(10.4%)
0
(0%)
Most important
medical
breakthroughs come
about from
experimentation with
animals
6
(3%)
69
(34.2%)
60
(29.7%)
60
(29.7%)
7
(3.5%)
Most psychological
and psychiatric
research done in
animals is invalid
and not needed
11
(5.5%)
50
(24.8%)
67
(33.2%)
69
(34.2%)
5
(2.5%)
Ethical aspects of
animal research
needs stringent
regulation in India
103
(51%)
80
(39.6%)
15
(7.4%)
3
(1.5%)
1
(0.5%)
Animals in research
must be treated at the
same levels for their
rights as humans
99
(49%)
62
(30.7%)
23
(11.4%)
17
(8.4%)
1
(0.5%)
Animal research in
medicine is not
justified and must be
totally stopped/
abolished
42
(20.8%)
44
(21.8%)
60
(29.7%)
47
(23.3%)
9
(4.5%)
Do you think
experimental genetic
research like cloning
and DNA research
should be allowed in
animals
7
(3.5%)
64
(31.7%)
77
(38.1%)
43
(21.3%)
11
(5.4%)
