Society & Culture - Posted by Tim Green-U. Texas on Monday, January 18, 2010 11:50 - 10 Comments 
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(2 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5) Loading ...Fido or Fluffy: What’s your pet personality?
“This research suggests there are significant differences on major personality traits between dog people and cat people,” says psychologist Sam Gosling. “Given the tight psychological connections between people and their pets, it is likely that the differences between dogs and cats may be suited to different human personalities.”
U. TEXAS-AUSTIN—Dog people tend to be agreeable extroverts and cat people are more open and neurotic, new research shows.
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“There is a widely held cultural belief that the pet species—dog or cat—with which a person has the strongest affinity says something about the individual’s personality,” says Sam Gosling, a University of Texas at Austin psychologist.
Yet numerous studies that have tried to tackle this question in the past have failed to find convincing evidence for consistent differences between the two kinds of pet lovers. Gosling’s paper—to be published later this year in the journal Anthrozoös— is the first to provide a clear portrait of what cat and dog people tend to be like.
“This research suggests there are significant differences on major personality traits between dog people and cat people,” he says. “Given the tight psychological connections between people and their pets, it is likely that the differences between dogs and cats may be suited to different human personalities.”
As part of the research, 4,565 volunteers were asked whether they were dog people, cat people, neither, or both. The same group was given a 44-item assessment that measured them on the so-called Big Five personality dimensions psychologists often use to study personalities.
Forty-six percent of respondents described themselves as dog people, while 12 percent said they were cat people. Almost 28 percent said they were both and 15 percent said they were neither.
The findings show dog people were generally about 15 percent more extroverted, 13 percent more agreeable, and 11 percent more conscientious than cat people, who were generally about 12 percent more neurotic and 11 percent more open than their canine-loving counterparts.
University of Texas news: www.utexas.edu/news/
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10 Comments
CatOwner
Elizabeth
The sociological dimension you’ve left out: researchers should remember that cat people are often working full-time, and that is how they choose to have a cat as a pet (cats need our face-to-face attention less often). I like both sorts of animals equally, but I have a cat because I am single and work full-time.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by mr_tkp: cat or a dog person? choose between Neurotic or extrovert it seems… http://bit.ly/8roECM #sciencerocks…
Sometimes I wonder if people become “neurotic” after owning a cat. They can definitely make things at home uncomfortable if they are unhappy with you. Or, should I say: after the cat owns you. :)
Your research money at work. Are the results of any use other than as a curiosity? Is there a correlation between personality types and animal species identification? Bottom line: whatever.
Interesting to think about. I can see differences between cat and dog owners without doing a study! However, I was under the impression that cat owners outnumbered dog owners, so I’m skeptical at the sample. Why is the number of cat people so small here? Also was the sample representative of the population based on gender, age, marital status, etc.? Just curious.
Julia Evans
Has research considered the old saying, that cats choose their owners, but owners choose their dogs?
Many times have cats vanished from their homes, only to be found somewhere else curled up happily, where the fire is warmer and the food more plentiful.
Dogs however are more faithful, even when badly treated. Does this cause cat owners to become neurotic, and dog owners more confident?
What does it say about my personality that I love dogs AND cats (and birds, and horses, and fish, and ……)? !
Riana
I have learned today that I am “neurotic”. That’s a bit of a worry!
Dogs rule and cats drool. Not really I like both dogs and cats.
I wonder whether this might shed some light on how cats and dogs became domesticated.