Gender Norms, Dominance Theory, and the Endorsement of Aversive Training Methods With Pet Dogs

Dogs are a significant part of people's lives, serving as companions, family members, and sources of support, which makes understanding factors that influence human interaction with them important. In the current research, we bridge the psychology of gender and the science of human–animal interactions; in doing so, we offer novel conclusions about how gender norms shape our possible intentions and interactions with dogs. Across three studies (ntotal = 1,175), we examined the relationship between dominance theory (i.e., the belief that people must become the “pack leader”), hegemonic masculinity (i.e., the idealized version of manhood), and gender typicality threats (i.e., threat to gender performance). We found that most people reported establishing dominance over dogs as a confrontational process (Study 1a). Though beliefs in hegemonic masculinity predicted the endorsement of aversive methods, the relationship between dominance theory and the use of aversive methods was partially mediated by beliefs in hegemonic masculinity (Study 1b). In a second experiment (Study 2), we found that manipulating information about dominance theory did not increase participants’ endorsement of aversive methods; however, the relationship between dominance theory and the use of aversive methods was still partially mediated by hegemonic masculinity. Finally, we experimentally manipulated gender typicality threat with false feedback and found that regardless of participant gender, gender threat increased the endorsement of aversive methods (Study 3). We discuss the implications for the psychology of gender and human–canine interactions.