It’s no surprise that people love pets. However, are they happier compared to non-pet owners? According to a latest study pet owners are more happy than non-pet owners based on the photos pet owners take with their pets!
Study finds pet owners happier than non-pet owners
Petplan researchers conducted a systematic study leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and established that pet lovers are much happier compared to their neighbors who don’t have pets. Having a dog or cat can boost an individual’s general happiness by over 22% internationally.
During the study, a group from Petplan looked at 2,500 pet owners’ photos on Google and Instagram using Microsoft Azure’s AI facial recognition. This allowed them to measure what happier people are overall, no matter where they live.
Researchers specifically evaluated photos taken by rabbit, dog, and cat owners in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) nations. Investigators located each image using the hashtag #selfie alongside pet-related hashtags such as #rabbitowner and #dogowner. They then used clear faces with Microsoft Azure’s Face API solution determining the level of every emotion, on a scale of 0-100.
The software examined 9,000 images from that substantial collection, rating them for obvious emotions such as joy, contempt and anxiety. Interestingly, the study discovered that pet owners had a 59.3% satisfaction score which was greater than overall happiness rating of 36.8%.
New Zealanders are identified as the happiest pet owners.
Even though owning a pet boosts an individual’s happier irrespective of where they live, the survey shows that New Zealand citizens are the happiest dog owners wolrd. As per the AI tool, pet owners rated 88.4 for happiness on average. Also, Hungary (81.6%) and Brazil (83.8%) have the highest proportion of dog and cat owners. Interestingly the US appeared on the list but it was 14th with a mean happiness rating of 70.7 among owners of pets.
Regarding how much owning a pet enhances happiness relative to a non-pet owner, Belgium was the nation with the highest positive impact as a result of pet ownership. In the country a pet owner was 172.8% happier relative to an ordinary person.
