At one point, my husband observed that every conversation with people one doesn’t know well eventually winds up on the topic of pets. For a period of our lives we were attending a lot of weddings and regularly being seated with strangers or acquaintances. Every time the subject of pets inevitably came up, he’d shoot me a pointed look and gently excuse himself from the table. While he finds the predictability of pet conversation annoying, I am always delighted when the subject turns to the beloved animals in our lives. I love seeing the light turn on in a person’s expression when they start talking about their pets. Pets make a lot of people happy!

Here are some reasons why:

• Pets are often controllable (to a greater or lesser extent), either because they are smaller and less intelligent or because they are trainable (autonomy).

• Dog owners tend to spend more time outdoors. Fresh air, sunshine, and the associated exercise with being outdoors all help with our physiological needs.

• Petting furry pets and watching animals move (e.g. fish swimming in an aquarium) have been shown to reduce stress levels, helping with our safety needs.

• One study found that pets decreased self-harm and suicide attempts by giving adults diagnosed with a mental health condition motivation to live (growth).

• Pet ownership might help reduce feelings of loneliness (social).

• A dog’s unconditional love can boost one’s esteem needs.

However, adopting a pet is not a magic bullet. While the studies above support pet ownership, just as many studies find negative results from pet ownership. These conflicting results led one researcher who surveyed the literature to call the idea that pets make us happier an “unsubstantiated hypothesis.” According to the Right Hand of Long-Term Happiness, it makes perfect sense that some people would gain from pet ownership and some would lose. Here are some examples of why pets might Interfere with happiness:

• What I find hilarious is the same study linked above discussing how dogs can boost esteem needs also found that cats can lower self-esteem (probably surprising no one who’s actually lived with a cat).

• Those who suffer from severe allergies might discover more physiological costs than benefits from pet ownership.

• If you’re already burdened with a number of other responsibilities, caring for a pet may just add to your stress levels (safety). This is likely why one study found that pet owners with 2+ kids living at home or unemployed had lower well-being scores than non-pet owners.

• Some pets act according to their nature, going against our wishes and challenging our autonomy needs.

Do you have a pet? Tell me all about it! Does your pet make you happy or stress you out?