Dear Group, my PhD project deals with coping strategies of - TopicsExpress

Dear Group, my PhD project deals with coping strategies of people who kill animals as a job. One of my hypothesis implies, that killing or harming an animal actually is a source of ambivalent feeling and negative emotions. However, I have not found any research that explicitly deals with this question and proof this connection. Therefor I would be very happy to receive any hints to literature that shows if killing or harming animals actually has an effect on human emotions or not. Although I think this hypothesis is pretty plausible it is something I need to be able to make plausible also for those who read my works sceptically. I am looking for empirical research (not just theoretical propositions or concepts that my hypothesis MIGHT be true) preferibly peer-reviewed and recently published in the fields of sociology, psychology or social-psychology. I am not looking for studies about attitudes of farmers or similar workers towards animals that also imply guilt or ambivalence but something more basic that diretcly adresses my question. Something that I can cite to show that for a certain amount of people harming or killing animals is something that provokes coping. Thank your very much!!