Does Naming Induce Anthropomorphism? Aisha Abdirahman, Payton Davis, Jude De La Cruz Texas A&M University – San Antonio. Advisors: Alan Daniel and Milly Daniel

Does naming something enhance Helping anthropomorphism? UNE Animal Score Attitudes Unique-Naming Effect The study focuses on the Unique-Naming Effect (UNE) which is a newly discovered phenomenon in which an individual tends to prefer an entity that they have given a proper name over other identical entities. This study asks whether anthropomorphism, or the tendency to ascribe human characteristics to Describe Me! nonhuman or inanimate entities, influences the UNE. It is predicted that if naming an object is influenced by anthropomorphism, then it is Participants rated their willingness to help get a dog expected that those with a lower propensity adopted. The graph shows a similar trend between High toward anthropomorphism would show less Participants were asked to choose between the two dogs and Low AT groups in which they both tended to rank preference for the named entity, and the named (1 = greater preference and 2 = lower preference). the named dog over unnamed dogs in terms of their The trend being shown is individuals with High AT Participants rated how much they liked animals and entity should be viewed more willingness to help get the dog adopted. While this supported animal welfare. As expected by the Name Me! giving the lower score to the dogs they named over replicates the UNE, this contradicts the anthropomorphically than other similar entities. other dogs. In contrast with this trend, those with Low hypothesis, overall, attitudes towards animal welfare Method anthropomorphism hypothesis, which expects those with ranked higher with High AT participants. This further AT did not tend to give a higher score to the dogs they Low AT to not present any preference for the named Before beginning the questionnaire, participants were asked to fill named. This could possibly be due to anthropomorphism indicates the effects anthropomorphism has on pro- dog over the dogs they did not name. What this might animal welfare (Butterfield, et al., 2012). out a consent form and provide demographic information such as being a component of the UNE. indicate, is the UNE having a reverse relationship with race and gender. Participants were then asked to read an adoption anthropomorphism, in which the UNE predicts AT, or at scenario and provided with a picture of a dog which they were the very least, the UNE is not entirely dependent on asked to describe and a second dog that they were asked to name. High AT to present preference. To measure participant’s anthropomorphic levels, participants were asked questions from the Individual Differences in Anthropomorphism Questionnaire (IDAQ). The IDAQ is a 30-item scale to assess an individual’s anthropomorphic tendencies and it asks questions such as: “To what extent is the desert lethargic?”, Target Discussion “To what extent is the average computer active?” (Waytz et al., 2010). To determine whether naming had an impact on preference, Anthropomorphism This is the first study to show a relationship between AT and UNE, participants were asked to select one of the dogs for an adoption where AT was positively associated with preference for named event; either the dog they had named or the dog they had entities. Previous research has shown that commonly studied described. Lastly, questions about the two dogs were asked. One Participants rated how constructs like ownership and empathy do not explain the UNE; set of questions was to determine how willing the individual was to anthropomorphically they viewed each our results show AT is a plausible explanation of UNE where other of the dogs. The results showed a help each animal get adopted, and a second set of questions trend where High AT participants constructs fail. Future research should aim to further identify the determined how anthropomorphically each of the animals was rated named dogs with impact of AT on phenomena such as endowment effects and viewed. Finally, a general “animal attitudes” score was calculated to anthropomorphic qualities. The celebrity objects because there is a limited literature on the topic of determine overall views toward animals. opposite was true for those who anthropomorphism. This study adds to a growing body of literature presented Low AT: they did not that suggests anthropomorphism can be leveraged as a tool to References: ascribe anthropomorphic qualities to promote positive views of animals and animal welfare. Limitations in the named dogs any more than they Butterfield, M. E., Hill, S. E., & Lord, C. G. (2012). Mangy mutt or furry friend? Anthropomorphism promotes the study include a small sample size, and because of the lack of animal welfare. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(4), 957-960. did for described dogs. This could https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2012.02.010 previous research, our study needs to be further replicated. Despite Waytz, A., Cacioppo, J., & Epley (2010). “Who Sees Human?” Perspectives on Psychological Science 5(3), 219–32. indicate that High or Low AT affects https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691610369336. the level at which named dogs are these limitations, the results observed here are consistent with the seen anthropomorphically. Taking into idea that anthropomorphism plays a role in the UNE. account what was found from the ‘Adoption Helping Score’ graph, we can infer that the UNE may be affected with variation between High and Low AT or may trigger AT itself. A limit to using Likert Scale questions is their sensitivity to manipulation and data analysis may be limited by the scale and the tendency of participants to choose higher Contributing Researchers: ranking, producing ceiling effects. Itiel Huerta, Henry Milner, Gabriella Pena, Gabriella Ruiz