Having a Pet Can Boost Life Satisfaction Just Like a Best Friend or Partner
The presence of a pet in one’s life can have just as powerful an effect on mental well-being as being in a romantic relationship or regularly spending time with a close friend, new research reveals.
The psychological benefits of pet ownership have been widely studied over the years. Experts have found that animals like dogs and cats can help elevate mood, reduce stress and feelings of loneliness, and provide emotional support.
These benefits, researchers say, are comparable to the support people receive from romantic partners or close friends.
A new study published on March 31 in the journal Social Indicators Research concludes that owning a pet can increase life satisfaction to a value equivalent of about $90,000 (roughly Rp 1.7 billion) per year. That figure represents what economists call the “implicit price” of non-material things that improve quality of life.
“I think that’s a lot of money—even for someone like me who loves pets,” said Adelina Gschwandtner, a professor of economics at the University of Kent and one of the study’s co-authors.
However, she emphasized that many pet lovers often describe their animals as friends or even family members—so, to them, the value is understandable.
“If pets are truly like friends and family, why shouldn’t we compare their impact to talking with a friend or family member once a week? After all, we interact with our pets every single day,” Gschwandtner added.
How the Study Was Conducted
To arrive at this conclusion, Gschwandtner and her co-author Michael Gmeiner, an assistant professor of economics at the London School of Economics, analyzed long-term survey data collected from 2,500 households in the UK.
Rather than simply comparing pet ownership with levels of life satisfaction—which would only suggest a correlation—the researchers aimed to demonstrate a causal relationship.
To do this, they employed a sophisticated statistical method known as the instrumental variables approach.
“This method works by identifying a ‘third variable’ that is correlated with pet ownership, but not directly with life satisfaction,” explained Gschwandtner.
The technique is designed to isolate the effect of having a pet from other potential factors that could influence happiness, such as reverse causality or hidden variables.
The researchers’ rigorous approach provides stronger evidence that pets play a significant role in enhancing life satisfaction. Whether it’s a wagging tail or a soothing purr, pets may be more valuable to our emotional health than we realize.
