Eva Cross

Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Cottrell, Catherine

Keywords

Dogs, Animal Shelters, Psychology, Adoption

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

Little research thus far has examined color as it relates to adoptability of shelter dogs. The aim of the current study was to examine whether collar color could help shelter dogs find homes faster. 306 participants rated 11 dogs on adoptability, likeability, cuteness, and threat. Participants were randomly assigned to a collar condition (black, blue, green, or red) for each dog. Participants saw the same dogs again and rated them on how much they resembled a pit bull. Finally, they completed an Anthropomorphism measure and demographics. The hypotheses were that a.) collar color would have an influence on likeability, adoptability, and cuteness of all dogs, b.) collar color would have an influence on perceived threat of all dogs, and c.) there would be a relationship between level of anthropomorphism and total positivity as well as perceived threat of all dogs. Analysis revealed interactions between collar color and anthropomorphism for two dogs on the total positivity variable. One dog approached significance for perceived threat. Only three dogs showed a correlation between resemblance to a pit bull and perceived threat. These results indicate that the factors that make dogs adoptable vary on an individual level. Further research needs to examine the relationship between color and adoptability. Future research should also investigate cultural and religious differences on perceptions of stigmatized dogs.

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