Graphic by Eilidh McNaughton By urŠka veberičDiscovering someone’s likes and dislikes is one of the foundational methods of getting to know a person. The preferences of an individual not only give us insights into their hobbies but in addition indicate which personality traits they possess. Dating apps have been one of the popular platforms to meet significant others in the last five years, with traffic reaching new highs recently due to the pandemic. On such platforms, people often pose basic questions such as: Where are you from? What kind of music do you like? Do you like the outdoors? But there is one question you should always ask someone to determine if you are compatible with them, and that is: Are you a dog or a cat person? The question of pet preference has been thrown around carelessly, without any additional thought besides if the person you are questioning is a cat or a dog person. However, enquiring about somebody’s affiliation with canine or feline worlds can be one of the keenest questions you can present to someone, as it will reveal who they really are. Here is why. Studies have suggested that preferring either dogs or cats correlates with personality differences, which could be explained in part by cats and dogs themselves having very different personalities and the relationships developed with their owners being unalike as well. Domesticated dogs are more social and need significantly increased interaction. On the other hand, cats are more independent and mostly enjoy being social when they think that it is necessary. Gosling (2010) explored personality differences between dog people and cat people, by researching over 4500 participants in a web-based study. The participants completed a 44-item assessment measuring the Big Five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism) to investigate differences in personality. The researcher found that: ● dog people are more social : participants who preferred dogs had 15% higher ratings on the measure of extraversion and were 13% more agreeable than cat people. Extraversion and agreeableness are both dimensions associated with social orientation. ● dog people are more self-disciplined : dog people were 11% more conscientious than cat people, which indicates an increased tendency for discipline and a preference for planned behaviour rather than spontaneous. ● cat people are more neurotic : participants who prefer cats showed 11% higher rates on the measure of neuroticism. This indicates that cat people may display anger more easily, and also experience feelings of guilt more frequently. ● cat people are more open to new experiences : cat people show higher rates of openness. This manifests in their appreciation for art, curiosity, and adventure. Moreover, they are more likely to hold unconventional beliefs, whereas dog people tend to have more traditional interests. The Big Five give us an indication of what kinds of personality traits people have, and carry implications of someone’s view of the world. This mostly translates into an individual’s political orientation. Recent studies, in the field of political psychology, investigated the influence of personality on political behaviour. The most powerful and consistent results that were found are that people who score high on the “openness” trait are more likely to report a liberal ideology, whereas a higher score on the “conscientiousness” trait is correlated with more conservative values (De Neve, 2015). Therefore, it can be assumed that cat people tend to be more liberal than dog people, due to exhibiting higher rates on the measure for “openness”, and dog people tend to be more conservative because they usually rank higher on the “conscientiousness” scale. Moreover, Alba & Haslam (2015) hypothesized that people have preferences for pets that complement their personalities meaning that dog people, that were anticipated to be more dominant than cat people, prefer dogs because of their submissive characteristics. Their measures included social dominance orientation (SDO), interpersonal dominance, competitiveness, and narcissism. As predicted, participants who identify as dog people had higher rates on the SDO and competitiveness measures, however, there were no significant differences in the measures of interpersonal dominance and narcissism between cat people and dog people. Wilson & Sibley (2013) investigated the link between SDO and political conservatism and found that there is a significant positive association between the construct of SDO and an individual’s conservative political ideology. The SDO measure reflects the ideological stance that there is a hierarchy in the world among people and groups, and that inequality is a desirable and natural occurrence. It could be said then that higher rates of the SDO in dog people may foreshadow an increased likelihood for conservatism. This is further exemplified in the 2012 US election where 9 of the top 10 dog-owning states voted firmly Republican. Contrarily, 9 of the bottom 10 dog-owning states voted for Obama. If you are a dog person, you might want to skip the next paragraph. A recent study at Caroll University, which investigated 600 university students, revealed that cat lovers score higher on intelligence test when compared to dog lovers. The researcher, Professor Denise Guastello presumes that this might be a result of cat people being more “open” and curious. Moreover, the study concluded that participants who prefer cats tend to be more non-conformist when compared to the participants who prefer dogs, which can be a consequence of cat people being less agreeable. The debate of which pet is better will never end, but we can utilize our knowledge of someone’s preference for dogs or cats for our benefit. Although having a difference in preference for pets can cause devastating social rifts between your roommates, family members and your significant others, we should think about the real victims - the people who are allergic to the fur of their preferred pet. References
Alba, B., & Haslam, N. (2015). Dog people and cat people differ on dominance-related traits. Anthrozoös , 28 (1), 37-44. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.2752/089279315X14129350721858 Coren, S. (2010, February 17). Personality differences between dog and cat owners. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201002/personality-differences-between-dog-and-cat-owners . Chayaka, Kyle. (2014, May 30). Studies Show Cat People Are Smarter Than Dog People. Time.Retrieved from https://time.com/2798972/studies-show-cat-people-are-smarter-than-dog-people/ De Neve, J. E. (2015). Personality, childhood experience, and political ideology. Political Psychology, 36 (1), 55-73. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.1207 5 Gosling, Samuel D, Sandy, Carson J, & Potter, Jeff. (2010). Personalities of Self-Identified "Dog People" and "Cat People". Anthrozoös, 23(3), 213-222. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.2752/175303710X12750451258850 Streep, P. (2015, January 19). 3 Things Being a Cat Person or Dog Person Reveals About You. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/tech-support/201501/3-things-being-cat- person-or-dog-person-reveals-about-you Wilson, M., & Sibley, C. (2013). Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism: Additive and Interactive Effects on Political Conservatism. Political Psychology, 34 (2), 277-284. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2348174 6
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