Finally, there’s a defense for the pet owners who love talking with their pets, but cannot do it without getting a one or two dirty looks.
According to this research, the people who tend to talk with their pets are smarter than the ones who don’t.
The study done by Harvard University’s Gary D. Sherman and Jonathan Haidt found that the people who like pets so much that they’re constantly talking with them on a regular basis are more intelligent than those who don’t.
And, Nicholas Epley, a professor of Behavioral Science at Chicago University, said that anthropomorphizing has been treated by many as a sign of stupidity and childish behavior; however, it’s actually a natural by-product of humans’ unique brains.
How Did the Researchers Come to this Conclusion?
During the study, Haidt and Sherman showed photos of baby animals and adult animals to people, most of whom said that they would name the baby animals using gender-specific pronouns.
They also said they would talk to them as if they’re their own.
Regardless of age, people who tend to do this are anthropomorphizing. They’re referring to animals and even inanimate objects as if they’re humans.
Anthropomorphism is also a sign of creativity- if you were to draw a photo of a human and hang it on your wall, you would confuse the brain if you don’t name it and even talk to it.
This is human natural behavior-it has nothing to do with craziness or childishness! This behavior with our pets can also be helpful-they will learn certain words and gestures from us, which will further ease the communication.
Your dog can empathize with you by being able to better recognize when you’re happy or sad.
So, the next time someone tells you that you’re behaving childishly when talking to your pet as if it were a person, tell them about this study and keep on doing what you’re doing!
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