What shapes our overall preference for cats or dogs? It's complicated

The first word out of my mouth was likely ‘dog’. This probably isn’t at all surprising to those that know me, and my affinity to provide a better life for animals is closely followed by my interest in people.

When I meet someone that’s new-to-me, the topic of pets invariably comes up because of my profession: ‘That’s such an interesting way to spend your days… I love dogs [or cats]…’, and the conversation goes from there.

What I’m struck by most is learning about the life that the person has with their pet (or in some cases, they might be in-between pets, but they’ll muse about companion animals from their past), and if they’re drawn specifically to dogs, cats or some other species of housepet.

It’s fascinating to hear stories of their preferences that have changed over time. Quite often, people become more open to sharing life with a species that may differ from what they grew up with, or what is completely different than they’re used to even much later in life.

We’re an amenable species.

Recent research has shed some light onto how some people have a preference for cats as opposed to dogs – and more interestingly – what age, experience, and personality traits have to do with it.

Dr. Samuel Gosling wanted to test the theory that those who identify themselves as being more of a ‘dog person’ or a‘cat person’ have personality differences. Dimensions that he explored were extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness.

He pursued a rather large–scale study that included 4565 participants, whom took an online test. The participants ranged in age from 10 to 95 years old and spanned several countries and ethnic backgrounds. From the data that was gathered, Gosling found that the majority of participants were identified as 'dog people' (45.7 percent), another 11.5 percent as having a stronger identification as a 'cat person' and also important, 27.7 percent could be identified as a cat or dog person.

15 percent of those questioned were in the "neither" category -- so perhaps they might be considered those who prefer the company of birds or other exotic animals, a growing demographic.

Dog people were found to have more extroverted, agreeable and conscientious qualities, while those possessing traits like openness and neuroticism were cat people.

It seems important to note that those that participated did so under the guise of completing an online personality questionnaire — they did not have the intention of learning whether or not they are a cat or dog person. At the end of the questionnaire, some questions were slyly posed to allow participants to self-identify with cats, dogs or neither of the two.

There could be a lot of reasons behind the differences. For instance, people may prefer a pet that exhibits like personality traits, or perhaps the fact that one tends to be very conscientious and detail-oriented might have a pull toward canines. Conversely, it may be that those who have more of an openness to things and individualism find it more natural to share life with cats. There are so many variables.

A couple of other interesting findings that were extrapolated from the data include the difference between dog and cat people was greater in men than women, and cat people tended to have a personality profile that is exceptionally distinctive (they stand out from the crowd, in other words) than their dog– loving counterparts.

These findings can give us insight, though as with anything that has to do with human nature, there are exceptions to the rule.

It seems important to say that overall, toddlers and young children seem to have a natural pull towards dogs and for good reason: The way that the animals look.

It's been known that humans have a natural affinity for animals that had infantile faces — those that are rounder, flatter and have large eyes. (Think about how cute babies and puppies look!)

To test this concept, researchers from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, in Rome, Italy, gathered data from studying a group of children aged 3 to 6 years old. A total of 272 children were included in the study.

The children were shown photographs of humans, teddy bears, cats and dogs with varying constellations of facial features, from infantile, to more adult-looking — the latter having more elongated noses and smaller eyes.

The more infantile in appearance, the more favorable the response.

Typically, puppies rank highest in terms of an infantile appearance, and many canine breeds retain many of the same physical qualities.

Marta Borgi, one of the researchers, noted, "Children in our study preferred dogs over cats in every comparison, and regardless of their familiarity with this species."

Also, the children favored photographs of animals over non-animals.

Click here to read the study, published in the Human—Animal Interaction Bulletin.

Given what all of this data demonstrates, it would certainly seem that from a tender age, we're drawn to cute faces, but as we gain experience and our brains become more sophisticated, we begin to discern, recognize and identify with traits that are more complex, deeper and appealing to us – and perhaps that tells us a lot about how we unfold individually as we age.


Lorrie Shaw is a freelance writer and owner of Professional Pet Sitting. Shoot her an email, contact her at 734-904-7279 or follow her adventures on Twitter.