Finding healing through animal companionship in Japanese animal cafés

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-198
Author(s):  
Amanda S Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Stress Relief ◽  
Physical Affection ◽  
Physical Healing ◽  
Animal Companionship ◽  
Care Relationships ◽  
Anthropological Fieldwork ◽  
And Control

Animal cafés—businesses in which customers pay by the hour to have a drink and relax in a space filled with cats, rabbits or other animals—began to appear in Japan in 2004, as a part of the iyashi healing boom. The iyashi boom, in goods and experiences that offer emotional and physical healing, was a response to problems of economic and social precarity triggered by the end of the Japanese bubble and the changing economic situation, particularly among younger Japanese facing the loss of earlier forms of social support and community. Animal cafés offer iyashi to their customers by providing them a refuge from the stress of their everyday lives, where they can relax through engagement with companion animals, rather than returning to tiny, empty apartments. The focus of these businesses is to offer the opportunity to develop positive affective relationships with the animals, who offer stress relief, physical affection, and a listening ear to the visitors who come to spend time with them.This research explores the way that affective relationships with animals in these cafés are being used as a method to maintain emotional well-being and control stress levels. Based on 18 months of anthropological fieldwork in Tokyo, Japan, this paper draws on the narratives of café visitors to argue that the popularity of these businesses is indicative of a shift towards the commodification of care relationships, and that visitors are using animals to reduce their stress in order to further productivity, by investigating how affective connections with non-human animals helps them feel ‘healed”’, and to explore how this relates to larger social considerations about healing and wellness in modern Japan.

Anthropomorphism and Anthropomorphic Selection—Beyond the "Cute Response"

2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Serpell
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Selection Pressure ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Support Providers ◽  
Evolutionary Selection ◽  
Human Side ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Health And Well Being

AbstractThis article explores the origin and evolutionary implications of anthropomorphism in the context of our relationships with animal companions. On the human side, anthropomorphic thinking enables animal companions' social behavior to be construed in human terms, thereby allowing these nonhuman animals to function for their human owners or guardians as providers of nonhuman social support. Absence of social support is known to be detrimental to human health and well being. Therefore, anthropomorphism and its corollary, pet keeping, have obvious biological fitness implications. On the animal side, anthropomorphism constitutes a unique evolutionary selection pressure, analogous to sexual selection, which has molded the appearance, anatomy, and behavior of companion animal species so as to adapt them to their unusual ecological niche as social support providers. Although such species undoubtedly have benefited numerically from the effects of this process, the consequences of anthropomorphism are less benign when viewed from the perspective of individual animals. Indeed, anthropomorphic selection probably is responsible for some of the more severe welfare problems currently found in companion animals.

Finding Resilience: The Mediation Effect of Sense of Community on the Psychological Well-Being of Military Spouses

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei-Chuan Wang ◽  
Pius Nyutu ◽  
Kimberly Tran ◽  
Angela Spears
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Military Spouses ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
Military Community ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Military

The goal of this study was to identify positive factors that increase the psychological well-being of military spouses in the areas of environmental mastery. We proposed that positive affect and social support from family and friends would have indirect effects on psychological well-being through their association with a greater sense of community with the military culture. Participants were 207 female spouses of active-duty service members. Data were analyzed using MEDIATE to test the mediational effect. Results indicated that social support from friends and positive affect did predict a sense of community, which in turn was associated with increased feelings of psychological well-being. The findings suggest that a perceived sense of military community helps military spouses gain a sense of mastery and control in a constantly changing environment.

scholarly journals No pets allowed? Companion animals, older people and residential care

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Fox ◽  
Mo Ray
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Care Home ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Animal Companionship ◽  
Environment Control ◽  
Vulnerability Theory ◽  
Adequate Provision ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Uk

This article is concerned with a particular site of inter-species relationships. Using the lens of liminality, it examines forced separation of older people from their companion animals when they move to a residential or nursing home in the UK. Such residential spaces frequently either exclude companion animals or fail to make adequate provision for them to accompany their human caretakers. We see such separation as a major bereavement for an older person at a stage of life when they experience significant other losses, and suggest it is often experienced as akin to the loss of a family member. We deploy vulnerability theory to argue that exclusion of companion animals from care spaces exemplifies a failure to understand the relational vulnerabilities of older age and the significance of animal companionship in mitigating those vulnerabilities. Equally, such separation fails to recognise the implications for excluded animals who can end up in unsuitable homes, being signed over to already over-stretched animal rescues or euthanised. Vulnerability theory highlights how companion species are always already vulnerable, given their liminal position between person and property, while older people are rendered particularly vulnerable in the ‘liminal zone’ of the care home, denied the ability to shape their environment, control their private space or form/sustain relationships of their own choosing. This article explores the potential of law to respond to and mitigate these shared vulnerabilities, suggesting that human rights arguments grounded in shared vulnerability may be invoked to argue for a re-definition of the family to recognise the significance of the human–animal relationship. We draw on the reasoning in a recent Court of Protection case which hints at law’s ability to recognise the value of interspecies relations and their role in sustaining health and well-being, and the ability to live well in old age.

Anthropomorphism and Anthropomorphic Selection—Beyond the "Cute Response"

2003 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Serpell
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Selection Pressure ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Support Providers ◽  
Evolutionary Selection ◽  
Human Side ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Health And Well Being

AbstractThis article explores the origin and evolutionary implications of anthropomorphism in the context of our relationships with animal companions. On the human side, anthropomorphic thinking enables animal companions' social behavior to be construed in human terms, thereby allowing these nonhuman animals to function for their human owners or guardians as providers of nonhuman social support. Absence of social support is known to be detrimental to human health and well being. Therefore, anthropomorphism and its corollary, pet keeping, have obvious biological fitness implications. On the animal side, anthropomorphism constitutes a unique evolutionary selection pressure, analogous to sexual selection, which has molded the appearance, anatomy, and behavior of companion animal species so as to adapt them to their unusual ecological niche as social support providers. Although such species undoubtedly have benefited numerically from the effects of this process, the consequences of anthropomorphism are less benign when viewed from the perspective of individual animals. Indeed, anthropomorphic selection probably is responsible for some of the more severe welfare problems currently found in companion animals.

scholarly journals Physiological Coregulation during Social Support Discussions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine S. Zee ◽  
Niall Bolger
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Male Partner ◽  
Cardiovascular Responses ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Romantic Couples ◽  
Regulatory Systems ◽  
Equilibrium Level ◽  
And Gender ◽  
And Control

Close relationships are proposed to function as dynamic regulatory systems, whereby partners regulate each other’s emotions and physiology to maintain an equilibrium level of responding—–a process known as coregulation. Coregulation is proposed to contribute to well-being, yet little is known regarding when coregulation emerges. We hypothesized that because social support interactions involve explicit interpersonal emotion regulation attempts, they might be especially likely to engender beneficial patterns of coregulation. We conducted a dyadic laboratory experiment in which romantic couples completed social support and control discussions as cardiovascular responses were measured. To assess physiological self-regulation and dyadic coregulation, we used dynamical systems modeling with Bayesian estimation, which captures the frequency of oscillations around an equilibrium level and changes in amplitudes over time. Results indicated the presence of coregulation across discusisons as a whole, as well as dierences in coregulation by discussion type and gender. Self-regulatory and coregulatory dynamics were more pronounced during social support (vs. control) discussions, especially when the male partner received support. There was also substantial between-dyad heterogeneity in self- and coregulation, suggesting that some dyads showed pronounced regulatory dynamics whereas other did not. Overall, this work suggests the role of social support as a coregulatory context and oers novel insights into emotional dynamics linking relationships and health.

scholarly journals (NON-HUMAN)ANIMAL COMPANIONSHIP: A CRUCIAL SUPPORT FOR PEOPLE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
JANET HOY-GERLACH ◽  
MARY RAUKTIS ◽  
CHRISTINA NEWHILL
Keyword(s):  
Companion Animals ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Stressors ◽  
Empirically Supported ◽  
Human Functioning ◽  
Animal Companionship ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Animal Interaction ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Difficult Times

Background Human-animal interaction (HAI) offers benefits across physical, emotional, psychological, and social spheres of human functioning. The aim of this paper is to delineate how animal companionship, via provision of HAI benefits, offers vital support to people experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic and associated stressors. Method Each of the empirically supported types of HAI benefits – physical, emotional, psychological, and social – will be situated within a biopsychosocial framework of human functioning and considered in terms of how they may help to ameliorate stressors specifically related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings Benefits derived from animal companionship may help alleviate physical, emotional, psychological, and social stressors specifically related to experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussion Benefits of animal companionship may be particularly salient for well-being and coping when people are experiencing a dramatic increase in stressors via a pandemic crisis. Community responses need to include plans (pet food pantries, temporary foster care, veterinary access/zoonotic safety) for keeping people and their companion animals together during such difficult times. Originality/value This article is unique in that it delineates the animal companionship benefits in terms of how such may help alleviate stressors associated with a pandemic.

Conflict Avoidance in Old Age

GeroPsych ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lia Oberhauser ◽  
Andreas B. Neubauer ◽  
Eva-Marie Kessler
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Perceived Social Support ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Conflict Avoidance ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Adult Lifespan ◽  
Set Up

Abstract. Conflict avoidance increases across the adult lifespan. This cross-sectional study looks at conflict avoidance as part of a mechanism to regulate belongingness needs ( Sheldon, 2011 ). We assumed that older adults perceive more threats to their belongingness when they contemplate their future, and that they preventively react with avoidance coping. We set up a model predicting conflict avoidance that included perceptions of future nonbelonging, termed anticipated loneliness, and other predictors including sociodemographics, indicators of subjective well-being and perceived social support (N = 331, aged 40–87). Anticipated loneliness predicted conflict avoidance above all other predictors and partially mediated the age-association of conflict avoidance. Results suggest that belongingness regulation accounts may deepen our understanding of conflict avoidance in the second half of life.

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