One reason is that we are biologically oriented toward loving our children, and animals seem to us like children. Pets need help and appreciate our help. Also, they often provide us with affection. We expect less from animals than we do from adult humans, so we tend to be more satisfied with the critters.
A study revealed that people who love animals have a specific version of the gene that produces the love hormone oxytocin, which is important for empathy between humans and boosts social bonding. So oxytocin helps people bond with animals too, and animal lovers are friendlier people and have more empathy.
Other words that can describe those who love animals more than humans include the nouns zoophilist, pet lover, pet person, and friend of animals or friend to animals. Since it's a bit less familiar, let's focus on one particular word: zoophilist.
Some people can really connect with animals subconsciously and feel more comfortable with them than with humans, which is why they say they love animals more than humans.
An animal lover openly expresses their empathy.
Naturally, it makes sense that animal lovers are people who openly express empathy towards animals. In your relationship with your pet, you probably have a good understanding of what it's like to give and receive unconditional love.
Dogs can sense when someone is a bad or good person. Your dog may not know the moral decisions a person has made, but he can pick up on signs of nervousness, fear, anger, and danger. Dogs notice specific things about humans that even other humans are not aware of.
They physically abuse pets.
If a narcissist's dog has urinated on the carpet while the narcissist was out, the narcissist sees it as a personal affront—even though the narcissist left the dog alone for 12 hours. The narcissist then hits the dog and calls it names. The dog learns to fear the narcissist.
One reason is that we are biologically oriented toward loving our children, and animals seem to us like children. Pets need help and appreciate our help. Also, they often provide us with affection. We expect less from animals than we do from adult humans, so we tend to be more satisfied with the critters.
Research shows that autistic people prefer interactions with animals over humans and that 80% of autistic children have participated in pet therapy.
Even household pets or animals in captivity will develop emotional connections with the humans taking care of them. Science has also indicated that physiologically, animals are certainly capable of experiencing emotions like love in a similar way to humans.
As pet owners, it's only natural for us to wonder whether our furry friends feel the same love for us that we feel for them. Luckily, there's plenty of research to suggest that our pets really do think of us as valued family members and friends.
Ophidiophilia is a subcategory of zoophilia, the sexual attraction to animals in general. People with ophidiophilia are known as ophidiophiles. Ophidiophilia doesn't always appear as sexual attraction; some ophidiophiles are attracted to snakes on a platonic (non-sexual) level.
The author writes, “Although a cat may not care (as that word is generally used) about human morals, cats can and do distinguish between good and bad people, and are excellent judges of human character and emotion.
Simply put, animals have a positive effect on humans and activate our oxytocin system, which are our feel-good hormones associated with empathy, trust, and relationship building. So, when we look at or interact with our pets and other animals, it makes us feel better.
In some ways, animals seem like a perfect “fix” for emotional craving: they are warm and furry (some of them, at least), they elicit our caregiving responses, and we get positive emotional feedback in the form of hits of oxytocin. Animals lift our mood and give us a sense of being needed and being loved.
According to research, having a pet helps you handle stressful situations with greater ease. Stroking your pet can actually help lower your blood pressure, and playing with them releases feel-good chemicals in your brain such as dopamine and oxytocin, which are known to trigger pleasure and happiness.
Pets are a good option as a companion for adults and children with ADHD. They can love unconditionally, enjoy going with you everywhere, and socialize with other humans and other pets. Because of this, they are the perfect companions for individuals with ADHD.
A relatively new symbol for autism, the butterfly has been a suggested replacement for the puzzle piece as it inspires thoughts of change and symbolizes the beauty of diversity and continued development.
People with Asperger's syndrome often tend to bond more easily with animals than they do with people.
Dogs can sense your love towards them and will react to it as such. Dogs are simple creatures who just want to be loved. You may find it interesting to note that dogs are some of the only animals that share the love hormone, "oxytocin" with us. This hormone is what bonds family members and partners together.
The short answer though is, yes, animals do feel emotions. You only need to look at a dog wagging its tail to see that, but it is backed up with research too, some of which we'll look at below. Animals get excited, happy, and scared in the same way we do.
In recent times, research has shown that: Dogs can recognize emotions in people's facial expressions. They're able to distinguish emotional facial expressions from neutral expressions, and they can tell happy faces from angry ones - just from photos of faces. Dogs can sniff out human emotions by smell alone.
Narcissism and the Animal World
There was a variety of opinions but the most common answer was “the cat.” That is an understandable answer. Cats show very little care about people, or even in other cats. They typically seem unconcerned about whether others are happy with them.
Individuals high in Narcissistic Neuroticism may empathize with animals to a greater extent than they empathize with humans and may use their pet as a means of regulating their negative emotions and controlling their insecurities.
When a narcissist owns a dog, the dog will show unconditional love. A dog is always happy to see his owner and doesn't hold any grudges. There's really nothing the owner can do to sway that adoration, so it's a great fit for a lot of narcissists.