The terms cat people and dog people refer to a person's domesticated pet animal preference. Through research completed at research institutions, it was found that there were differences in character and behaviour between those who prefer cats and those who prefer dogs. It was also found that some people base a significant portion of their identity around their affinity for either

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

s or

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

s. This builds on the perceived

dichotomy A dichotomy () is a partition of a set, partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be * jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and * mutually exclusive: nothi ...

between cats and dogs as

pet A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, inte ...

s in society. In some cases, the two terms refer to people's self-identification, regardless of what pets they actually own, if any.

Research

Research has shown a link between some personality traits and the type of domesticated animal owned. A 2010 study at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

found that those who identified as "dog people" tended to be more social and outgoing, whereas "cat people" tended to be more neurotic and "open", meaning creative, philosophical, or nontraditional. In a 2014 study at

Carroll University Carroll University is a private university in Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States. It was established in 1846 as Wisconsin's first four-year institution of higher learning. The university is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). History ...

, Wisconsin, by Denise Guastello, of the 600 people surveyed those who said they were dog lovers were found to be more energetic and outgoing, and tended to follow rules closely. On the other hand, cat lovers were more introverted, open-minded and sensitive. Cat people also tended to be non-conformists, as well as scoring higher on

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

tests than dog lovers. Guastello, a professor of psychology, stated the reasons behind these personality differences stem from the pet owners themselves and the particular environment they prefer. This is supported by the study completed by the psychology department at the University of Texas as it stated that the two species have "real and perceived differences" meaning that they display their own personalities that would be best suited to particular people. In the US, red states have the highest rate of dog ownership, while residents of

blue state Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to US states whose voters vote predominantly for one party—the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in bl ...

s are more likely to keep a cat as a pet.

Research

See also

References

Further reading