There are many opinions regarding the character traits of cat and dog lovers. They say that dog people are extroverts, and cat people, on the contrary, are introverts. Scientists confirm that differences exist, but they do not deny similarities either.
In a study conducted by the University of California at Berkeley (USA) and the University of California at East Bay (USA), the personality traits and behavioral styles of four groups of people were analyzed: dog people, cat people, those who treat both animals equally well. , and those who are equally indifferent to them.
An online survey of more than 1000 male and female pet owners of all ages found that these groups were unevenly distributed: almost 40% of those surveyed said they loved cats and dogs equally, 38% considered themselves “dog lovers,” 19 % are “cat lovers”, and only 3% said that they do not like either one or the other.
The researchers assessed the participants’ attachment not only to animals but also to people, in addition, they studied the “big five” personality traits: openness to new experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Surprisingly, those who showed the strongest caring and affection for their animals also had the highest scores in the conscientiousness and neuroticism categories, which is more common in people with anxious attachment types who are prone to overprotectiveness, the researchers note.
Reasonable question: is it good or bad? Overprotectiveness is not the best strategy when raising children, for example, as it prevents them from growing up to be independent. But in the case of animals that really need lifelong care, this is only a plus. By the way, young participants who named cats their favorite animals scored the most points on these indicators.
In this sense, the results partly echo the data obtained in 2010 in a study by psychologist Sam Gosling from the University of Texas (USA). He found that dog owners are more extroverted but less open to new experiences, while cat owners are more neurotic, but also creative and adventurous.