New research reveals that goats can read human emotions ... and smartly prefer positive people.
The human face can be a bit of an open book. Sure we can fake our facial expressions, but in general: Smile = happy, grimace = angry. Even our companion animals have our number – dogs, for example, are very sensitive to the emotional cues we give. But what about other animals?
According to a new study led by scientists at Queen Mary University of London, it appears evident that when it comes to goats at least, the answer is yes.
Published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the researchers explain how 20 goats reacted to images of happy and angry human facial expressions, concluding that the goats preferred to look at and interact with the positive faces.
The research was conducted at Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats in Kent, where the team showed the goats pairs of unfamiliar faces of the same person showing happy and angry expressions.
The goats preferred the happy faces, which elicited greater interaction with the goats approaching them and exploring them with their snouts. The effect was amplified when the happy faces were on the right side, suggesting that goats use the left hemisphere of their brains to process positive emotion.
Taken at the Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats. (Photo: ChristianNawroth / Wikimedia Commons)/CC BY 2.0
