Disciplining behavior of dog owners in problematic situations: The factorial structure

The purpose of the study was to investigate the magnitude and structure of situation-specific owner emotions and behavioral reactions in problematic s ituations involving a dog. The following questions were addressed: 1. What is the magnitude of situation-specific owner emotions and reactions in a gr oup of dog owners and 2. What is the structure of situation-specific owner emotions and reactions in a group of dog owners? In addition, the study con sidered whether these emotions and behavioral reactions differed between ma le and female owners. Fifty-five dog owners were presented with 16 descript ions of possible situations with a dog and were asked to record the degree to which they elicited 13 emotions (such as irritation, anger, sorrow, anxi ety). They were further asked which disciplinary reactions, such as punishm ent, demanding compliance, they would use in each situation. Factor analysi s of the emotions and behavioral reactions resulted in three emotional fact ors: anger/irritation, compassion/anxiety and compunction, and two behavior al factors: power assertion and encouraging behavior. Though most would mod ify behavior using power assertion, about 10% of the dog owners chose not t o enforce compliance of the rules but would prevent further problems by usi ng encouragement. Investigation of the male and female owners resulted in s lightly different scores, especially for the group of the male owners. Thes e results are related to the literature concerning child discipline in prob lematic situations. (C) 2000 International Society for Anthrozoolgy.