Pets go to College: The Influence of Pets on Students' Perceptions of Faculty and Their Offices

The present study examined the effects of the presence of a pet in a professor's office on college students' perceptions of the office and the professor. Students (n=257) were randomly assigned to view a slide of an office that contained either a dog, a cat, or no animal. Students perceived the office to be more comfortable and the professor to be friendlier when there was a dog in the office than when there was a cat or no animal in the office. They also perceived the professor who occupied the office with a cat to be less busy than the professors who occupied the offices with a dog and with no animal. These results imply that professors may be able to positively influence students' impressions of them by having a dog or a cat in their offices.