What being a cat- or dog-person says about you
Which one are you?
Kat Eschner
October 7, 2020
Are you a cat person, or a dog person? The answer to this age-old question could reveal a little bit about your personality, some research shows.
For example, there are notable differences between dog and cat people as demographics. In 2014, Mikel Delgado, a postdoctoral researcher and applied animal behaviorist at the UC Davis veterinary school, authored a study that looked at something called the “Big 5†personality measurements in those who said they preferred one or the other species, as well as those who said they have no preference or don’t like cats and dogs.
The Big 5 are widely used metrics of personality, often referenced with the acronym OCEAN: openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. (That last one, neuroticism, is defined in this context as sensitivity or nervousness.) These traits, as defined in scientific literature, can be broadly applied across cultures and form a useful way to understand personalities.
Delgado found that respondents who said they preferred cats tended to be higher in openness and neuroticism, while self-identified dog people tended towards more extroversion and agreeableness.
These findings line up with previous studies on this issue. Such studies have also found that those who identify as dog people tend to be more dominant in social interactions and more narcissistic and those who identify as cat people were, at least in one study, more likely to be female.
more
https://www.popsci.com/story/science/cat-or-dog-person/
