Topic > The Impact of a Dog's Presence on Mood

The purpose of this current study is to determine whether the presence of a dog can change an individual's mood. A sample of 10-12 participants will have the opportunity to interact with a therapy dog ​​that will be brought to campus during exam week. Before starting the experiment, individuals will fill out a demographic questionnaire providing some personal information for the study and the PANAS-X mood scale to determine their mood prior to interacting with the dog. After participants interact with the dog, they will be asked to fill out the PANAS-X mood scale again to rate whether their mood has changed for better or worse. The research will examine mood assessment and determine that interacting with a dog will have a positive effect on an individual's mood. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Students at all educational levels, whether middle school, high school, or college, will have one stress and anxiety overload or another at some point during their school years. This overload can significantly affect their mood in a beneficial or detrimental way if they don't have a way to relieve the built-up tension. For example, animal-assisted interventions are becoming increasingly popular among universities because they demonstrate that interactions between students and dogs have a positive effect on student health and well-being. An individual's mood plays a huge role in their daily life. Mood has a great impact on cognitive processes, decision making, memory, and learning (Forgas & Eich, 2013). Places that can have a significant impact on a person's mood and overall well-being include work, home and school. Student mental health, resilience and well-being are common concerns across universities that can influence how the student performs in class, how they perform in daily life and exams (Grajfoner, Harte, Potter, & McGuigan, 2017 ). Animal-assisted interventions are becoming increasingly popular among universities because studies show that interactions between students and dogs have a positive effect on student health and well-being. Thanks to these animal-assisted interventions, anxiety and negative mood appear to be reduced, and feelings of love and support are significantly increased (Grajfoner et al., 2017). The number of studies on the psychological interaction of humans with dogs was minimal compared to studies on human-animal interaction (HAI) with statistical barriers. Gee, Griffin, and McCardle (2017) focus on the issue of sparse data capturing the actual nature and extent of human-animal interaction (HAI) in school settings. Others take issue with the involvement of animals in the classroom and how they can have an effect on learning by directly influencing human motivation, self-regulation, engagement, and social interaction through the embodied interaction of animals. HAI activities benefit children by improving their social interaction and strengthening motivation, engagement and learning. More concrete evidence will be needed to support this theory and educate practices and policies to enable IAA in schools, interventions and activities. The number of roles dogs play to help humans adapt to their surroundings is vast. Schoenfeld-Tacher, Hellyer, Cheung, and Kogan (2017) discuss the legitimacy controversy involving guide dogs, emotional support dogs, and therapy dogs. There is a lack of objective data when examining perceptionof the public on the roles played by each type of assistance dog and regarding the legitimacy of integration. An anonymous online survey was sent to U.S. adults who do not own some type of assistance animal to study their perceptions. Two hundred and eighty-four usable responses were examined and the results were able to determine general misconceptions about regulations, definitions, rights, and rules associated with each type of service dog. Guide dogs are generally considered to be helpful to those who have a legitimate need and usually facilitate access to public places. Legitimacy issues and access rights for emotional support dogs continue to have some concerns, but the public is addressing the rights and roles of therapy dogs fairly. It has only been in the last 30 years that studies have revealed how human-animal interactions, especially dogs, can affect students' psyches. Adams, Clark, Crowell, Duffy, and Green (2017) discuss how college is a stressful time for students who face issues such as anxiety, depression, and stress. They go into detail about the current trend among universities that offers students the opportunity to interact with animals, including dogs, as a cost-effective alternative to the typical counseling services usually offered. Their article showcases current research that has previously been discussed regarding animal-based treatment for problems college students may face. They then describe their own experiences with university-sponsored animal interactions and conclude that animals play an important role as a form of treatment for students dealing with stress, depression, and anxiety. Dell, Chalmers, Gillett, Rohr, Nickel, Campbell, Hanoski, Haugerud, Husband, Stephenson, and Brydges (2015) reflect on the timeless issue of student mental health on college campuses, but instead use animal-assisted intervention as the answer. The article follows the immediate, three-month results of an initial study at three Canadian universities that will all follow the St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog program. A sample of 403 students responded experiencing emotions of love and support from therapy dogs. A supportive conclusion for mental health is understood as relaxation and feeling of distress when interacting with dogs. These conclusions drawn from HAI studies have continued to grow, but have also served a more argumentative purpose. Barker, Barker, McCain, and Schubert (2016) conducted an experimental study to investigate the effect of visiting therapy dogs on college students' physiological and perceived stress the week before final exams. Seventy-eight students were randomly assigned to a fifteen-minute intervention with therapy dogs and an attention control condition. They found that campus events involving therapy dogs coming to visit and interact with students are a cost-effective activity for reducing perceived, but not physiological, stress on college students a week before final exams. When students' mood and stress levels were observed beyond the final exam period, the data revealed some statistics about the overall stress of college life outside of the classroom. Grajfoner, Harte, Potter, and McGuigan (2017) conducted an experiment with one hundred and thirty-two college students, in both an experimental condition and one of two controlled conditions, to investigate whether a twenty-minute dog-assisted intervention would influence well-being, student's mood and anxiety. The participants interacted both..