Human-Animal Interactions among Young People: Effects, Determinants, and Methods of Research

Abstract

In this paper, I overview the studies of human-animal interactions’ influence on young peoples’ lives. There is plenty of research that addresses the impact of personal networks on individual life trajectories. However, the influence of animals, who also sometimes belong to the young peoples’ personal networks, remains underexplored. This paper fills this gap and touches upon two contexts in which young learners most frequently face animals: 1) home and 2) educational facilities. I conclude that relations with animals in both contexts could enrich young peoples’ skills of emotional regulation and may influence the formation of responsibility for the wellbeing of the other living subjects, increase the social integration of the young person and consolidate the models of aggressive or in other words cruel behavior. In addition to this, I formulate the potential research directions. The article could be of interest to the social researchers of children, adolescents, youth, and human-animal interactions.

Acknowledgments. The paper was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project number № 21-78-00069).