It’s not in your imagination; pets really do make you feel better. Pets increase life satisfaction and wellbeing similarly to that of family and friends, sometimes even working as a substitute to them, according to a U.K. study published in the Social Indicators Research journal.
The study, which looked at cats and dogs, found that a pet is worth $90,000 a year in life satisfaction.
While “life satisfaction” is intangible, the rating is meant to provide a tangible figure in order to understand value. It essentially means that having a pet positively impacts a human as much as $90,000 would.
The number is significant as it’s the same “implicit price” a person would get from hanging with friends or family.
Economist Who Penned Pet Study Speaks Out
“First when I obtained the values I was surprised. I was thinking that is a lot of money even for me who loves [pets],” said Adelina Gschwandtner, the paper’s co-author, told CNN.
When she thought about it more, Gschwandtner realized “most people claim that their pets are like friends or family members.”
“If pets are indeed like friends and family, why shouldn’t that measure be comparable to talking to friends and family once a week?” she questioned. “You have your pet every day.”
In an interview with The Times, Gschwandtner further commented on her research
“I understand why some people might be skeptical, but other economists have previously calculated similar values for being able to meet with family and friends once or twice a week,” she said. “If you put it in that context, I think our findings make sense.”
Additionally, she hypothesized, “I also suspect that many people don’t actually realize how important their pets are for them.”
The study looked at 2,500 households in the U.K. It didn’t only compare and contrast non-pet households. Instead, the study used an instrumental variables approach to take into account factors like personality types to reach its conclusion.
The authors found that have was linked to an increase in life satisfaction of three to four points, on a scale that went from one (completely dissatisfied) to seven (satisfied beyond measure).
In addition to the life satisfaction score, the study found that “pet carers in general appear to be more open, conscientious and extroverted than non-pet carers.”
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