Citation

Schenk AM, Ragatz LL, Fremouw WJ. J. Forensic Sci. 2012; 57(1): 152-159.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, 53 Campus Drive, 1222 Life Sciences Building, PO Box 6040, Morgantown, WV 26506-6040.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01961.x

PMID

22074409

Abstract

Every year over 885,000 dog bites require serious medical attention. Based on human injury and insurance claims, six dog breeds were designated as "vicious" (Akitas, Chows, Dobermans, Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, and Wolf-mixes). This study was conducted to expand on previous research examining antisocial tendencies and personality styles of people choosing to own vicious breeds. Seven hundred and fifty-four college students completed a questionnaire assessing type of dog owned, criminal thinking, callousness, personality, alcohol usage, and deviant lifestyle behaviors. Vicious dog owners reported significantly higher criminal thinking, entitlement, sentimentality, and superoptimism tendencies. Vicious dog owners were arrested, engaged in physical fights, and used marijuana significantly more than other dog owners. However, the homogeneous sample utilized could impact the generalizability of these findings. Choosing to own a vicious dog may be a "thin slice" indicator of more antisocial tendencies.

Language: en