Personality Differences Between Dog and Cat Owners

Being a dog owner myself, this article titled Personality Differences Between Dog and Cat Owners sparked my interest. The author suspects that there must be some "underlying human personality difference" that explains why some individuals prefer one animal over the other. After conducting his own experiment, using the Interpretive Adjective Scale, to measure the personality of dog and cat owners, he was able to conclude there are indeed major personality differences between the two.

The type of scoring he used was based on extroversion, dominance, trust and warmth. According to his study, cat owners tend to be very introvert, cold towards others (meaning not very agreeable). They are not very dominant and tend to be more shy and unaggressive. They also did not rank high on trust. Dog owners were almost the exact opposite., ranking high on extrovert (having an outgoing personality). They are also more accepting, and show more conscientiousness than cat owners.

It was surprising to read that when cat owners were asked if they would accept a dog as a pet, if it was given to them as a gift, 68% replied no. When dog owners were asked if they would accept a cat as a gift, 70% said yes! I did not find these results very surprising as I always saw pets as a reflection of their owners. Animals have their own personalities and naturally you are going to want to pick a mascot that is most compatible with yours.

However, the study did show that cat owners tend to be more open in comparison to dog owners. Meaning, they are more appreciative of art, emotions, curiosity, imagination and unusual ideas. Perhaps this is why Pratt chose to have cats wandering around the school.