Research has found that dogs DO judge us when we make mistakes – but only if they’re female.
Researchers (from Kyoto University, Japan) set up an experiment where dogs were shown a ‘competent’ person who was able to open a container, and an ‘incompetent’ person who couldn’t.
The two people were then given containers with food in to try and open, and the researchers found that female dogs looked significantly longer at, and approached the competent person.
In contrast, male dogs had no preference for either the competent or incompetent person in the food task.
The study’s lead author said… the “findings show that dogs, especially female dogs, are able to identify human competence, which can influence their behavior, particularly if food is involved.
‘Future studies should investigate the potential sex differences among dogs in the way they evaluate humans.’
**Judgements are known as ‘social evaluations’ in psychology, and studies have found that other species, such as capuchin monkeys, also make them.
** Dogs have adapted to living in human society through the evolutionary process of domestication, and have learned to read our behavior and communicate with us.
