My mom has kept a cat as her pet since I was six years old. When I was eight, my dad decided to have a dog. Their pets have brought me joys and frustrations. During the years I spent with my parents’ pets, I sometimes had a strange feeling that cats and dogs somehow represent their owners’ personalities. It is obvious to me that my mother is a completely different person to my father. Recently I started doing some researches about the differences between people like cats and people like dogs.
Dog and Cat above white banner looking at camera
First thing that I found interesting from the research was that there are more people prefer dogs. Research show that “about six percent more US households own dogs than own cats”. A common similarity among them is that they are mostly out-going people. So is my father. He is very talkative, even to the strangers. This research have shown that dog people are more likely to be good at socializing than cat people. In comparison, my mother barely talks to strangers. She behaves as quietly as a cat does.
Although my father is better at socializing, which applies to the dog people, my mother definitely has better control of her emotions. Actually most of cat people control their emotions well! They don’t get angered by little issues easily and they can often figure out things in organized ways. Dog people are different. According to the research, they tend to show their emotions instantly after they feel them. For example, my father never hides his happiness or sorrow. We know what’s in his mind just by looking at him.
Next I found out that dog people are more dependent, which means they like to rely on others more than cat people do. Whenever my dad and I went out for dinner without my mother, she makes her own dinner. But when I have dinner with my mother and leave my father home, he would always go out to the restaurant and complain about eating alone. Cat people are more independent according to not only my experience but also to some surveys. Many researchers indicated that most cat people accept living without companies. They prefer quiet and private space.
This study is observational and it cannot prove that every dog people and cat people are sharing those personality. Besides, third variable still exist such as chance. One thing I have noticed is that this study does not rule out the possibility of reverse causation. In conclusion, it is still an interesting observation. Whether keeping dogs or cats as pets has a correlation to owners’ personalities still need to be examine in the future studies.
Sources:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201503/do-dog-people-and-cat-people-differ-in-terms-dominance
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/tech-support/201501/3-things-being-cat-person-or-dog-person-reveals-about-you
I have always had cats and never had a dog, so I am definitely a cat person. I have noticed that people who tend to have one pet over the other have different personality traits ut never really paid much attention to it. What I did find though, was this article that you might like which suggests there is a direct relationship between a person’s personality traits and which pet they tend to have.
I found your blog to be very interesting since I can admit that I am a dog person. I never really thought about the relation and similarity between dog owners and outgoing personalities until reading your post. But now that I think about it this common trait definitely identifies with dog people more. I say this because dog owners have to take their dogs for walks which most likely means you will encounter more people outside of your home. This does not necessarily apply to cat owners since cats do not require most of the same treatments as dogs. Overall, I found your post to be a very nice read!
Heres an article I found that highlights some key differences between dog people and cat people, hope you enjoy it!
http://thoughtcatalog.com/lorenzo-jensen-iii/2015/06/17-basic-differences-between-dog-people-and-cat-people/
This was a really interesting blog to read because I’m actually very torn between the two animals. It would be interesting to see what it means when someone is split between the two animals and what it means psychologically!
I find your blog quite interesting. I did not realize the difference between dog pet owners and cat pet owners. I like your way of exploring experiments by yourself and the comparison of research you did on your mom and dad while cat and dog does illustrates the coloration between personality and animals’ characteristics. I agree with your concern of the third variable but I do think that it is people’s personalities decides what pet they want unconsciously.
I find your blog so interesting seeing as I am completely a dog person. I take no interest in cats, just like the rest of my family members. This encouraged me to see if other people can influence your preference of dog or cat, but I was not able to find any results. The way you integrated the possibility of reverse causation was a great reflection of SC200!