It might be a good move to let your cranky employees bring their dogs to work.
Research suggests that Fido’s mere presence stimulates the release of an internal chemical that perks folks right up. That is, as long as the dog gazes longingly and often into its owner’s eyes.
That’s what The Washington Post reports after it reviewed research done by Japanese scientists. This wasn’t one of those “studies” where people were asked about their feelings. These researchers actually analyzed the amount of oxytocin the in the urine of dog owners, and found that those who gazed at their dogs for a set time produced more than did those who weren’t allowed to doggie-gaze for as long.
The groups were divided into LG and SG — long gazers and short gazers, respectively. The scientists measured the oxytocin levels in the urine of the two groups 30 minutes after the gazing period ended. Here’s what they found:
“In the interaction experiment, a high correlation was found in LG between the frequency of behavioral exchanges initiated by the dog’s gaze and the increase in urinary OT. We conclude that interactions with dogs, especially those initiated by the dog’s gaze, can increase the urinary OT concentrations of their owners as a manifestation of attachment behavior.”
In other words, it’s the dog’s response to the human’s desire for eye contact that makes the good chemicals flow, and not just the proximity of animal to human.
At work, that could make all the difference in an employee’s emotional well-being. Miho Nagasawa, one of the study’s authors, told the Post the release of oxytocin triggered by dog-gazing reduces anxiety and arousal levels in humans and dogs. “The positive interaction between humans and dogs via mutual gazing may reduce stress activity for each other,” she says.
Now, what the research team needs to do is rerun the test with cats, just to placate all those feline lovers out there.
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
