Daily Times

How cute is it when folks share Facebook video clips of young children begging their parents for a little brother or sister?

Or the ones where kids get excited about a baby announcement… even cuter – probably because they’re kind of rare.

Because this is the response we usually expect:

Further proof of this innate sibling rivalry is new research conducted by psychologists at the University of Cambridge, which finds that “children get more satisfaction from relationships with their pets than with their brothers or sisters.”

The study surveyed 12-year-old children from 77 British families who had both pets and more than one child in the household. While admittedly a small sample size, the research poses interest, partially because few have investigated the importance of relationships between children and pets in psychology.

One of the takeaways from the small study was how much children consider pets companions and confidantes – as opposed to their siblings – and not just sources of fuzzy hugs and sloppy kisses. As Matt Cassels, the lead researcher for the study points out, “the fact that pets cannot understand or talk back may even be a benefit as it means they are completely nonjudgmental”.

So the fact that children can talk about their problems, worries, and emotions to the family pet without a scoff or a side-eye could be a beneficial aid in growing up. “The social support that adolescents receive from pets may well support psychological well-being later in life,” says co-author of the study Nancy Gee. “But there is still more to learn about the long-term impact of pets on children’s development.”

Although surely not scientific, this video of kids finding out they’re getting a puppy succinctly underlines how kids really feel about another sibling vs a new pet: