Your Pet May Predict Your Personality
Study Shows 'Dog People' May Be More Outgoing, 'Cat People' More Creative
Jan. 14, 2010 -- Are you a "cat person" or a "dog person"? Even people who don't own either pet tend to self-identify as one or the other, and the answer may say something
about their personalities, a study shows.
As a rule, dogs are more social and eager to please, while cats are more
introverted and curious.
In the new study, self-described cat and dog people appeared to share these
traits.
"Even though we have this widely held idea that dog people and cat people
are somehow different, we haven't really known how they are different and
previous research has failed to tell us," psychologist and study researcher Sam
Gosling, PhD, of the University of Texas at Austin, tells WebMD.
He believes this is because earlier studies examined personality differences
in cat and dog owners, failing to account for the fact that a dog person
may actually own a cat and vice versa.
As part of a larger online personality survey, Gosling and colleague Carson
J. Sandy, asked about 4,500 people if they considered themselves dog people or
cat people.
The 44-question survey delved into the five dimensions of personality
thought to encompass the spectrum of personality types:
- Conscientiousness. Common behaviors include self-discipline, sense of duty,
and a tendency toward planned vs. spontaneous behavior.
- Extraversion. Tendency toward being gregarious, enthusiastic, positive, and
energetic.
- Agreeableness. Includes attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness,
affection, and sociability.
- Openness. Includes traits such as appreciation for the arts, curiosity,
creativity, and nontraditional thinking and behavior.
- Neuroticism. Includes characteristics such as being easily stressed,
anxious, or easily worried.
"In terms of personalities I would say Woody Allen is at one end of this
spectrum and the "Dude" from the Big Lebowski is at the other," Gosling
says.
Forty-six percent of those who took the survey identified themselves as dog
people, while 12% said they were cat people. Twenty-eight percent said
they were both and 15% said they were neither.
Cat People vs. Dog People
According to the findings, self-identified dog people were 15% more
extroverted, 13% more agreeable, and 11% more conscientious than cat
people.
Cat people were about 12% more neurotic and 11% more open than dog
people.
"These are not huge differences," Gosling says. "There are certainly many,
many cat people who are extroverts and many, many dog people who aren't."
But he adds that the findings may have broader implications in the field of
pet therapy, suggesting that personality screening may help match people in
need with the most appropriate animal.
The study will be published later this year in the journal
Anthrozoos.
Film producer Susan Williams, of Atlanta, owns a dog and two cats, but she
is firmly entrenched in the canine camp.
"Neither of my cats likes me much because they know I don't get them," she
says.
Her 9-year-old daughter, Ella, on the other hand, could probably qualify as
a '"cat whisperer."
"Outside the house I rarely see a cat because they know I'm a dog person,
but any cat within a block of her will find her."
Williams says she definitely believes dog people, as a rule, are more
extroverted and agreeable and that cat people are more introverted.
"I'm a flight, not fight person," she says. "To avoid an argument, I'll
agree with you if you tell me the sky is green."
View Article Sources
SOURCES:
Gosling, S. Anthrozoos, online edition.
Samuel D. Gosling, PhD, department of psychology, University of Texas at
Austin.
Susan Williams, film producer, Atlanta.
News release, University of Texas at Austin.
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