Pets-students Perceptions

Životinje za društvo popularne su diljem svijeta, a broj kućanstava s kućnim ljubimcima raste i nastavlja rasti diljem svijeta zbog posebnog odnosa između ljudi i životinja. Ljudi uče o sebi i svijetu oko sebe upravo kroz brigu o životinjama. Predmet ovog sociološkog istraživanja jest istražiti percepcije studenata o kućnim ljubimcima što je i temeljni cilj ovog istraživanja. Posebni su ciljevi ovoga istraživanja: istražiti razlike u percepciji različitih vrsta kućnih ljubimaca, istražiti razlike u percepciji studenata koji su vlasnici kućnih ljubimaca i onih koji nisu vlasnici, istražiti značenja kućnih ljubimaca te istražiti pridonose li kućni ljubimci uspostavi prijateljstava i društvenih kontakata. Istraživanje je provedeno kroz mjeces svibanj i lipanj 2023. godine, metodom online ankete na uzorku od 200 studenata i studentica Sveučilišta u Splitu. Rezultati istraživanju pokazuju postoje razlike u percepciji kućnih ljubimaca, pri čemu su neki više omiljeni, a drugi manje poželjni. Ujedno, studenti vlasnici kućnih ljubimaca više doživljavaju kućne ljubimce kao obvezu negoli studenti koji nemaju kućne ljubimce. Rezultati istraživanja su pokazali kako je najviše zastupljeno emocionalno značenje kućnih ljubimaca. Nadalje ovim se istraživanjem potvrdilo kako kućni ljubimci pridonose socijalnim interakcijama vlasnika, odnosno vlasnici kućnih ljubimaca lakše stječu nova poznanstva od onih koji to nisu.Companion animals are popular all over the world, and the number of households with pets is growing and continues to grow worldwide because of the special relationship between humans and animals. People learn about themselves and the world around them precisely through caring for animals. The subject of this sociological research is to investigate students' perceptions of pets, which is the main goal of this research. The specific goals of this research are: to investigate the differences in the perception of different types of pets, to investigate the differences in the perception of students who are pet owners and those who are not, to investigate the meanings of pets and to investigate whether pets contribute to the establishment of friendships and social contacts. The research was conducted during the months of May and June 2023, using an online survey method on a sample of 200 male and female students of the University of Split. The research results show that there are differences in the perception of pets, with some being more preferred and others less desirable. At the same time, students who own pets perceive pets more as an obligation than students who do not have pets. The results of the research showed that the emotional meaning of pets is the most represented. Furthermore, this research confirmed that pets contribute to the social interactions of their owners, that is, pet owners make new acquaintances more easily than non-owners