Childless and Childfree Parents, Grandparent Support, Pets, and Identity

What is it about?

This exploratory study builds on interviews of companion animal owners who either do or do not have human children and, who have either developed or supported an identity formed opposite to the companion animal but typically reserved for humans. Specifically, it considers how the childless parent identity related to the companion animal, or the pet parent, is supported by other significant actors such as one's partner, one's parent (or "grandparent" to the companion animal), or one's siblings (or "aunt" or "uncle" to the companion animal). The article also explores how the "sibling" identity in young human children is supported by their parents. The importance of this support to acting like a "parent," even though one does not have human children, or "sibling," if there are young human children present in the family, is explored.

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Why is it important?

This work is important as it builds on prior research (Laurent-Simpson 2017) that shows that enactment of role identity can occur opposite to non-human entities. This particular work extends those findings to demonstrate that role identity counter to non-humans must have external support from significant others for successful enactment in the presence of other human actors (just as is the case with role identities formed counter to human actors). Positive affect that arises from this support allows the childless or childfree to enact the parent identity across other social situations in which the animal may or may not be present.