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The truth about cat people and dog people
Research shows that your preference for felines or canines really does say something about your personality.
Sat, Sep 01 2012 at 5:06 PM
Photo: Anna Bryukhanova/iStockphoto
Are you a dog person or a cat person? It’s likely that you align yourself with one of these labels, and research shows that your preference for one animal or the other reveals a bit about your personality.
Sixty-two percent of U.S. households have a pet, according to the American Pet Products Association. Dogs are the most popular pets with 39 percent of U.S. households owning at least one canine, but cats come in second with 33 percent of U.S. households having at least one cat.
But can our choice of furry friend really say something about who we are? Sometimes.
Studies show that we tend to gravitate toward the animals with which we were raised, and factors like age and living space also play a role in pet ownership. Parents with young children are more inclined to have dogs that kids can take outside, while older people and singles are more likely to have lower-maintenance animals like cats. And people in the suburbs are more likely to adopt large dogs, while apartment dwellers are likely to have cats or small dogs.
Still, research shows that there are differences between cat people and dog people. A University of Texas study found that those who define themselves as dog people are more extroverted, agreeable and conscientious than self-proclaimed cat people. Those with a preference for felines, on the other hand, are more creative, adventurous and prone to neuroticism or anxiety.
Your pet might even indicate how you vote. A 2008 Gallup survey of 2,000 Americans found that 33 percent of dog owners identified themselves as Republicans, while only 28 percent of cat owners leaned to the right. But a Hunch.com poll of 200,000 pet owners found the split to be more even. According to its results, dog people are 50 percent more likely to be conservatives than cat people.
However, there are some things that cat people and dog people have in common. Both types of people talk to animals, consider themselves close to nature, dislike animal-print clothing, and are generally optimists.
The Hunch.com survey also found that both cat people and dog people are equally likely to have a four-year degree, but cat people are 17 percent more likely to have completed a graduate degree.
Check out some of the other findings from Hunch.com’s survey below.
Living area preferences:
- Dog people are 30 percent more likely to live in a rural area.
- Cat people are 29 percent move likely to live in an urban area.
Animal rescue leanings:
- Dog people are 67 percent more likely to call animal control if they find stray kittens.
- Cat people are 21 percent more likely to rescue the stray kittens.
Phones:
- Dog people are 36 percent more likely to use a popular song as a ringtone.
- Cat people are 11 percent more likely to have contacts in both their cellphone and a physical address book.
Children:
- Dog people are 24 percent more likely to have kids.
- Cat people are 33 percent more likely to prefer taking care of a friend’s kids than a friend’s dogs.
Favorite Beatle?
- Dog people are 18 percent more likely to consider Paul McCartney their favorite Beatle.
- Cat people are 25 percent more likely to consider George Harrison their favorite Beatle.
What makes you laugh
- Dog people are 30 percent more likely to enjoy slapstick humor and impressions.
- Cat people are 21 percent more likely to enjoy ironic humor and puns.
Random facts
- Dog people are 9 percent more likely to think of zoos as happy place.
- Cat people are 10 percent more likely to be active on Twitter.
When it comes to media choices, Hunch.com found that dog people prefer jam bands, reggae and psychedelic rock, while cat people listen to more New Wave, classic rock and electronic music.
Dog people listed “American Idol” and “Everybody Loves Raymond” as their favorite TV shows and “Crash” and “No Country For Old Men” as their top movie choices. Cat people preferred “CSI” and “Real Time With Bill Maher” for TV and listed “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The Hurt Locker” as their favorite movies.
But what about those people with both cats and dogs? According to Hunch.com's survey, these people are likely to be female suburbanites who are politically middle of the road.
Related pet stories on MNN:
- Why do cats purr?
- 7 ridiculously expensive cat and dog breeds
- How to choose the right pet for apartment living [Infographic]
MNN tease photo: Shutterstock
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I grew up with cats and dogs. Animals are animals. If you live in an apartment, you can't have a dog. Why don't some women(like Laura Moss) concern themselves with more intellectual matters, that's what i would like to know.
I m a cat person but found some traits to a dog owner and I dislike rock , love jazz.
I love cats but I hate electronic music...well I do love psychedelic rock though. this is just a survey. not really accurate just assumptions made from some dogs and cats owner.
plus I don't really watch CSI!
This is really stupid. Clearly the underlying message is that cat people are of a higher intellectual caliber. It's like they took the caricaturistic attributes most commonly associated with animals from Looney Tunes and super imposed them into a "survey".
lol the cat people are all hipsters
I were brought up in the countryside with Chickens Ducks Peacocks African Guinea Fowl, alsorts, just absolutely everything you could think of, and I so love Geese. Many became much loved pets. We had Dogs and Cats, I now have a Dog and Parrot, would so love a Cat but live in town and near a road, and worry bout it being run over. So what would the survey make of someone like me?!
Some of the facts in this article is not true. I am a cat person, and I don't like to play twitter. BTW, cats are so adorable, PERIOD. <3 XD
Might agree with all but for the part where cat people had The Slumdog Millionaire as their favorite movie? No way, man.
I'm an animal person,4 legs and 2 legs(lizards,ect,birds,ect) and no legs,so the survey does not fit any part of me. It's natural to communicate with nature of all kinds, I even talk to my plants,and trees,the touching them does make a difference,have you ever seen a plant turn brown when certain people touch them?(usually the leaves). Those surveys just put every thing into numbers, and live things are so much more than that,oh well it gives somebody a job and something to do.
Some of these classifications are a little strange... I'm a dog person and I like classic rock and jam bands, I'm a creative introvert, I like ironic/smart humor, etc etc... Oh well. There's lies, there's damned lies and then there's statistics I guess
Reading their "statistics" I find them wrong completely for me lol I love dogs, i'm a dog person, I find cats evil and nasty and yet...I fall in with mostly the "cat peoples" percentages LOL Exept for that beatles part... I find if you like the beatles you can't pick one of the others...I like them as a whole not a singular entity. but either way most of those are completely wrong for me but that's okay they never are accurate anyways
My husband and I are both cat lovers...we love their antics and we talk to them like they understand purrfectly!
I consider myself an animal person who loves- and would care for -any animal,those who inflict cruelty on animals -I feel very sorry for -as they are the losers in life as they will never know the -unconditional love and devotion we get from them -I prefer my animals to -some people.
sorry didn't add name -valhalla.
love dogs and cats. But luv cats more and John lennon is my favourite beatle not George Harrison!!!
God! I think I have waited all my life to read an article like this! I love animals, ALL OF THEM, and hate animal cruelty, but prefer to have cats or both dogs and cats!
Thank you for posting :)
I am a dog person, and yes my dogs are part of my family, and yes I talk to them all the time!!!
i must be neither a dog person or a cat person as most of these things do not apply to me (despite the fact i have two pups at home lol)
Paul McCartney lost most rural dog owners when he became an activist vegetarian
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