ArticleJournal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS2020
Cognitive Dissonance in Laboratory Animal Medicine and Implications for Animal Welfare.
Article in Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Caring, killing and an always busy schedule: a cross-sectional study on stress and strain in laboratory animal professionals in German-speaking countries.Laboratory animals · 2026Article
- A Need for Societal Involvement in Promoting a Culture of Care in Animal Research.Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2026Article
- Enhancing Rodent Welfare, Cost Savings, and Efficiency: Implementation and Review of Data-Driven Improvements.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2026Review
- "Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2026Article
- Creative pedagogic methods for self-guided embodied thinking and learning about animal research.Wellcome open research · 2025Article
- Building a sustainable framework for laboratory animal welfare and ethics education: challenges and reform strategies.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
- Article
- Compassion Fatigue and Coping Mechanisms of Laboratory Animal Professionals from Europe, China, and Japan.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2022Article
- Animal researchers shoulder a psychological burden that animal ethics committees ought to address.Journal of medical ethics · 2022Article
- Environmental Enrichment for Rats and Mice Housed in Laboratories: A Metareview.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Review
- Compassion Fatigue in Laboratory Animal Personnel during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
People experience cognitive dissonance when they entertain 2 conflicting ideas at the same time. Cognitive dissonance may cause a negative emotional state, which can lead to engagement of compensation mechanisms to resolve the conflict. Here we describe a survey that explores cognitive dissonance in laboratory animal veterinarians and veterinary technicians and various ways in which veterinary staff manage dissonance associated with research animal use. Respondents-164 veterinarians and 145 veterinary technicians-were asked to rate their opinions of various statements on a sliding scale of 'strongly disagree' to 'strongly agree' or 'never' to 'always.' Statements assessed negative emotions (discomfort, powerlessness, frustration) and compensation mechanisms (devaluing, emotional distancing, shifting responsibility) as bases for inferring effects on welfare states of animals. Responses were evaluated overall and were compared according to level of training (veterinarian compared with veterinary technician), years of work experience (0 to 5, 6 to 10, greater than 10), and species tended (large, mixed, small species). Respondents strongly agreed that animal wellbeing and animal use in research were important. Respondents reported feelings of discomfort, powerlessness, and frustration associated with work. In addition, respondents reported feeling empowered to initiate changes affecting animal welfare. The most frequent compensation mechanism noted was shifting responsibility onto the IACUC and institutional rules. Devaluing the animals was another reported compensation mechanism. Responses to emotional distancing statements were divided. Survey responses supported the existence of cognitive dissonance associated with laboratory animal medicine. Potential negative and positive effects on animal welfare are discussed.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.