(PS4-83) A Qualitative Study Using Metacognition to Evaluate the Impacts of Pet Ownership and Loss on Existential Thinking, Mortality Acceptance, and Grief

There are numerous studies on the influence of pets on human health, but the results lack consistency. While we have begun to understand the psychological and medical benefit of pet ownership, further intervention potential exists. At the same time, pet ownership can have negative implications including grief upon the pet’s passing. These experiences of death can shape the ways people cope with grief and may lead to increased existential thinking (i.e., thoughts of mortality and life’s purpose). Thus, it is essential to understand further the positive and negative impacts pets can have on processing existential thoughts and grief. This topic is under-researched even though pet ownership is common in many countries. People who have owned or lost pets may already understand how their animals have affected the way they view life and death. This qualitative study concerned individual metacognition (i.e., awareness and understanding of one’s own thoughts) regarding ways owning or losing a pet may have impacted their existential thinking capacity and processing of grief and mortality. A total of 313 participants were recruited for an online survey. Of the survey questions, 33 short answer responses were included in this analysis. Participants (72% Female) ranged in age from 17 to 60 (M=30). Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was conducted manually, yielding six prominent themes: afterlife belief, concern for others, animal equality, coping with human loss, death anxiety, and life perceptions. Many people felt that losing a pet at a young age had better prepared them for experiencing human loss later and/or gave them a better understanding of the grieving process. People found that their pets had forced them to be aware of how one’s actions and treatment of others can leave a lasting effect. This influenced them to be mindful of their behavior and feel more concern and empathy for others. Some found that their afterlife beliefs had been shaped by the loss of their pet. For some, it caused them to develop a belief system and for others, it caused them to rethink their current belief system. Other responses indicated an increase in existential thinking and death anxiety resulting from considering their own death or the ephemerality of life. Participants’ metacognitive understandings showed pets can have profound effects on how people think and behave. Pet ownership at a young age influenced their development by providing a foundation for understanding mortality and processing existential thoughts. Regardless of age, people felt pets played a role in shaping the way they interact with others and process their own existence. Future studies should explore further the intervention potential of pet relationships while also considering possible detrimental effects of pet illness and death on psychological well-being.  Future developmental studies could explore impacts of pet relationships including pet death across the life span.