An attachment perspective on human–pet relationships: Conceptualization and assessment of pet attachment orientations

In a series of studies we used attachment theory as a framework to examine human–pet relationships. We proposed that, as in interpersonal relationships, people differ in their degree of anxious or avoidant attachment to their pets, and that these individual differences influence pet-related cognitions, emotions, and behavior. We constructed a self-report scale, the Pet Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ), and examined its factorial structure, associations with attachment patterns in human relationships (Studies 1–2), relation to explicit and implicit expectations concerning a pet (3–4), and reactions to the loss of a pet (5). We found that individual differences in pet attachment do occur in the domains of attachment anxiety and avoidance, and these differences contribute uniquely to the prediction of expectations about the pet and emotional reactions to its death.

► A scale tapping pet attachment was built.
► People differ in anxious and avoidant attachment to pets.
► These variations are related to pet-related cognitions and behavior.