Differences Between Dog People and Cat People

The Ph. D. professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin named Sam Gosling has been appearing largely in the media, for instance in "Good Morning America", NPR, Psychology Today, The New York Times.

Thanks to his accomplishments and to his being a brilliant psychologist, he received the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution. He currently lives in Austin, Texas.

Sam Gosling together with Carson Sandy and Jeff Potter have made an online study of over 4565 people. This was called the Gosling-Potter Internet Personality Project. According to the results of this study, dogs vs. cats differences are similar to those between dog persons vs. cat persons.

Most people believe there is more than mere affection between themselves and their pet. Because cats and dogs are the most popular pets, depending on their preferences, people can be divided into two categories: those who love cats (cat persons), and those who love dogs (or dog persons).

Those who took part in this study have been asked to say what they think of their personality, if they believe their personality is closer to a cat's or to a dog's. If some people found that according to the results, they had both cat person's and dog person's personality traits, it meant they didn't actually belong to any of these two categories.

The participants were also tested by a questionnaire which is known under the name of Big Five Model (depending on the five dimensions of personality). These five factors refer to neuroticism, extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness.

After this test, 46% of the participants fell into the category of dog persons, 12% into the category of cat persons, 28% as dog and cat persons, and 15% as not belonging to any of the two categories of personality classification.

Dog people are usually extroverts, more sociable and friendlier than cat persons. They could be characterized as competent, responsible, organized, orderly and ambitious people. But they are less spontaneous than the cat people.

Dog people don't like to stray from what they've planned to do. They have the capacity to self-discipline themselves, and they usually reach their goals because they are more conservative and conventional than the cat persons.

On the other hand, cat persons are said to be more emotional. So unlike dog persons, they have a more developed emotional instability and therefore are more vulnerable. They are more emotional and often prone to depression, excessive worrying, sometimes even aggressiveness. They open up better than dog persons.

Therefore, such people are often curious, flexible, spontaneous, have a lot of sense of adventure, they are open to the idea of beauty, they appreciate art and aesthetics more than dog persons do.

They can be more creative because they usually have a wilder imagination than dog persons, and they don't follow usual patterns and are good at avoiding cliches and routine rules. They have a more flexible way of thinking and are less conformist. So they are emotional, open to new things, often capricious and moody.

Vanessa Meachen: "CAT PEOPLE are introverted, self-conscious, secretive, sensitive. They tend to be interested in quieter pursuits like reading, watching movies and videos, music, etc. They are homebodies, or like to go to quiet places.

Cat people like their creature comforts and although they expect people to notice them, they tend not to boast, preferring to draw attention to themselves in less direct ways. They tend to have a small circle of close friends rather than a larger group.

Dog people are extroverted, eager, unembarrassed, open.They tend to be interested in sport, adventuring, exploring and outdoor pursuits, and like to go out a lot. They tease and pick on each other in a friendly way, and like talking and boasting about their accomplishments. They have a large circle of friends and acquaintances and they make friends easily."

The conclusion to all this may be that the good old saying "Birds of a feather flock together" does not apply only to people, or only to birds, it may very well refer to creatures of all sorts. We tend to love what is similar to our very own personality, and be more reserved towards what is different from ourselves and our mentality.