Program

14:30 - Opening and Reception of Doctoral Students

Jorge Costa - Vice-Rector for Research and Technological Modernization

Diniz Lopes - Director of the School of Social Sciences

Carla Moleiro - Director of CIS-Iscte

Cecília Aguiar - Director of the Department of Psychology

Paula Castro - Director of the Doctoral Program in Psychology

15:00 - Conference by Diniz Lopes - The woofs and the meows of psychology: Do we have anything to say about human companion animals’ relationships?

Abstract for the conference:

Although there is a long history of coexistence between humans and companion animals, and this type of animal is increasingly present in our domestic lives and society in general, psychology has only recently become interested in this research topic. In this presentation, I summarize the relevant psychological research in this area, specifically regarding the relationship between humans and companion animals. Afterward, inspired by models of human-to-human interpersonal relationships (e.g., Rusbult Investment Model), I propose to show how different psychological variables (at individual and social levels) help to explain the quality we perceive in these relationships and how they can be associated with attitudes towards animals in general and abandonment in particular