Abstract
The purpose of the present study is to find out the difference of empathy levels between pet owners who have owned pets in their formative years (i.e. 5-15 years) and non-pet owners. Purposive sampling has been used in order to select the individuals. The sample consists of 40 individuals divided into two groups, the pet owners (n=20) and the non-pet owners (n= 20). Each group consists of 10 males and 10 females. The mean age of the individuals is 30 years. Multidimensional Emotional Empathy Scale (Caruso & Mayer, 1998) has been used in order to assess the scores of empathy. For the statistical analysis of data, t-test was applied. The results showed significant difference between the levels of empathy of the pet owners and non pet owners at p=0.0004 level. Pet owners were found to have higher levels of empathy as compared to non pet owners.