Why People See Their Pets as Family Members

Many people view their dogs as a central part of their lives. In fact, according to Pew survey data, almost all dog owners in the United States consider their canine companions to be important family members. In some countries, dogs now even outnumber children. 

Animal behavior researcher Eniko Kubinyi also saw these trends in her own research at ELTE Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest.  

“To my great surprise, even in a representative sample, 12% of respondents, including parents, at least partly agreed with the statement ‘My dog is more important to me than anyone else.’ And 16% referred to them as furry kids,” she said. “I wanted to understand why that is.” 

In a recent paper published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, Kubinyi explores the theoretical frameworks driving these profound multispecies relationships. She argues that this parent–child-like bond between a dog and its owner is driven by both biological and cultural forces: our biological need to care and nurture, and a cultural adaptation to modern demographic changes—specifically the decline of extended families and the rise in social isolation. 

“Many people now live without close family ties or regular interaction with children,” Kubinyi explained. “For example, in recent years, nearly 90% of adults in Hungary do not spend any time caring for young children, although our species biologically adapted to cooperative child-rearing. Yet the psychological need to nurture and connect hasn’t disappeared.” 

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In the paper, Kubinyi first outlined how humans have evolved a strong caregiving instinct through cooperative breeding, meaning that in early human societies, everyone helped raise children.  

“Men and women across all age groups fed, protected, and emotionally supported kids, not just their own,” she said.  

However, as societies shifted, initially through agriculture, then through the industrial revolution, the ways of life also shifted. Extended family networks disappeared, while families chose to have fewer children. Population health data show that global fertility rates have fallen by 50% over the past 70 years. Those social and caregiving bonds that humans evolved with became lost.  

Kubinyi’s main focus in her paper is the “companion-dog cultural runaway theory.” It suggests that our caregiving instincts found a new outlet in companion animals, particularly dogs, sparking humanity’s early habit of keeping pets. Over time, this shift has been accelerated and amplified by culture: media, consumer trends, and social norms. Further, declining fertility rates independently contributed to the increasing value of dogs in people’s lives—the animals could, at least partly, fill our social need and loss of community.  

In short, what started as a shift to pet-keeping, rooted in our instinct to care, has grown into a widespread, deeply emotional, and socially accepted phenomenon in which dogs play central roles in people’s lives due to culture. 

“In this way, dogs have become not just companions, but emotional lifelines in a rapidly changing world,” Kubinyi said. 

Connecting these different layers of culture, biology, and history can inform approaches in psychology. This paper, along with other research, shows that dogs are increasingly viewed as full family members, influencing social connections and dynamics.  

“The growing presence of dogs in both public and private life is reshaping societal definitions of family, intimacy, and even identity,” Kubinyi said.  

Understanding this shift toward pet-centric families can help researchers dig into new pup-related questions on how we can approach societal shifts, like growing aging populations, urbanization, globalization, and declining fertility. 

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Considering the role of canines in our lives can also help clinical psychologists develop new interventions for mental health problems and loneliness amidst a society of increasing isolation.  

“This theory underscores how emotionally significant companion animals can be, particularly for people who are isolated or traumatized,” Kubinyi said.  

Dogs provide emotional safety, support, and a lack of judgment, making them a good therapeutic approach for grief or attachment disorders by helping to rebuild social bonds and broader senses of community. Other pets, too, such as cats can also “fulfill similar emotional roles,” Kubinyi noted. 

So whether you’re a “dog parent” or not, these fluffy companions will likely become important members of all of our social networks, especially if we fail to rebuild stronger support systems and tackle growing social isolation.  

“In a world where traditional community structures and intergenerational caregiving have weakened,” Kubinyi said, “companion animals can increasingly help meet core human needs.”  

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Reference 

Kubinyi, E. (2025). The link between companion dogs, human fertility rates, and social networks. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 0(0).