Washington [US]: A new study has revealed how humans view other species as research participants, classifies whether pig, dog, octopus among other "food animals" are seen as 'friends', 'food', or those 'worth fighting for'. The study was published in the CABI journal Human-Animal Interactions.
The researchers attempted to assess people's social perceptions about various species, including 'food animals' which have often been classified as being less sentient and historically devoid of rights and moral concern due to their nature as a consumable commodity. Ratings on the scales of warmth and competence for 16 animals were subjected to multidimensional scaling analysis.
Among the animals in focus were shark, alligator, pig, dog, octopus, rabbit, cow and orangutan. Results indicate people hold different social perceptions congruent to the various animal species. Four main clusters were identified, and these were named, 'Love', 'Save', 'Indifferent' and 'Dislike' based on the expectancy of how participants might feel towards the animals.
The ethical ideology of participants was also measured, with vegetarians and animal activists holding more 'Absolutist' beliefs. When factored into the scaling process, ethical ideology had little impact on participants' social perceptions of nonhuman animals. This study borrows from work on the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) and attempts to replicate the social perceptions of animals along the warmth-competence dimensions amongst a Singaporean sample of vegetarians, animal activists and those who regarded themselves as neither.