Cats vs Dogs and Cat vs Dog People: Perceptions and Personality Differences

Are there differences in cat vs dog people? What do we perceive the differences between dogs and cats to be? Read on to find out…

Cat vs Dog People: Which are you and what’s the difference?

People often claim to be either a “dog person” or a “cat person”. We know there are differences in the behaviour of cats and dogs, but are there differences in the personalities of their owners?  Here’s cat vs dog people…

Many behavioural traits and personality characteristics of pet owners have been analysed by behavioural scientists. Of course, findings are very general and you may not identify with all of the traits and loving both cats and dogs can confuse things even further.
So what are the differences? And can you spot yourself in these personality traits? 

Activity and attachment levels of cat vs dog people

When it comes to cat vs dog people, dog owners tend to be more athletic than cat owners, which is good news for dogs who need the stimulation of a daily walk or other form of exercise.

Dog owners also tend to interact more with their pet than cat owners do. Perhaps this is an area that cat owners could improve on but a lack of interactivity doesn’t appear to affect the cat owners’ bond, as they are as equally attached to their pet as dog owners are.

Traditional vs alternative lifestyles

Dog owners are considered to be more traditional in their lifestyle than cat owners. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that cat owners are more artistic and creative than dog owners. Good news for cats, as their owners can create walkways, shelves and tunnels for their cats to play and snooze in.

Hardworking

Dog owners are hard workers, reliable at getting the job done. Faithful, consistent – a bit like their dogs! Cat owners, on the other hand, are more intelligent. Whether their higher level of qualification enables them to make a more intelligent choice of pet or the longer working hours and travel commitments that their high-powered job necessitates, lends itself to cat ownership has yet to be determined.

Love and friendship

Owning a pet practically guarantees you friendship. People love to talk about their cats and dogs and other pet owners like to listen. Pet ownership makes you popular. However, when it comes to love, dog owners are at an advantage. Owning a dog, especially for men, attracts the ladies. Must be something nurturing and caring about those dog-owning gentlemen!

Cat vs Dog People as Party animals

Dog owners are extroverts. Being surrounded by people energises them. They are party people. Cat people, on the other hand, tend to be more introverted, preferring a dinner party or a gentle debate or conversation with one or two like-minded (cat) people.

There is, of course, nothing right or wrong about being either a dog or cat person, or even being both. You may identify with these traits completely or not at all. That’s what makes us all interesting. Though, of course, pet people are much more interesting than non-pet people (in my humble opinion!)

Dog vs Cat People Personality Sum Up

When 352 dog people were compared with 66 cat people, dog people scored higher on warmth, liveliness, rule-consciousness and social boldness compared to cat people. Cat people scored higher on general intelligence, abstractedness, and self-reliance.

Read on to learn more about personality differences of cats and dogs, as owners believe…

My dog is not my cat: Personality differences perceived by owners

While the personality of our pets intrigues most pet owners, much of the research has focused on dogs. Since they have been domesticated much longer than cats, it makes sense that we love to live with them and the canine personality may have evolved to get along with our own human temperaments.

Cats, although living with us for less evolutionary time, are genuinely appreciated by many humans due to their ease of care and their adaptability to small residences and of course their independent nature.

Personality traits of dogs and cats

In an attempt to define the personality traits perceived by the owners of multiple pets, a questionnaire was answered by 1270 owners of multiple pets (dogs and cats) and data on the demographics, management, and personality of their pets analysed. The research was conducted in Italy.

Why ask owners of both cats and dogs? Well, increasing numbers of people are living with both dogs and cats and may be better equipped to consider differences in personality than owners of single species. Dog owners may be more biased towards aspects of canine personality and cat owners towards feline temperaments.

This study looked at 3 main areas concerning dogs and cats living in the same household:
(a) owner-pet management choice and relationship;
(b) personality traits of the dog and the cat; and
(c) dog-cat relationship. The personality traits are explained in the results here.

Differences in cat vs dog personalities

Five personality traits emerged in dogs and cats:

• sociability

• reactivity

• protectiveness

• neuroticism

• fearfulness

Species personality differences:

Owners perceived several species-related differences. Dogs were considered more sociable, protective, and reactive than cats, while cats were more neurotic.

Evolutionary-wise, it makes sense that dogs would be more sociable and more protective than cats, given the time that they have lived alongside humans and these are the traits that we have valued in our canine companions.

Likewise, it may be doubtful that cats were ever chosen due to their skill in protectiveness. Personality descriptions may even favour dogs (and humans) overall and we may, in fact, not even be able to characterise the feline personality adequately. How do we measure that independent streak in the cat? Cat owners value this aspect of their pet’s personality, even if it could be called a lack of sociability!

Owner age affect on perceptions

Interestingly, younger owners enhanced the perceived protective instinct and dynamism of their dogs while dampening the neuroticism of their cats. This may indicate differences in the management of pets between younger and older owners or differences in the way they act with dogs and cats.

For instance, if younger owners spend an equal amount of time in nurturing activities with dog and cats, then they may perceive similar sociability aspects of dog and cat personalities.

Younger owners, of course, may have had less experience with pets and so judge their personalities differently to more experienced owners. Management practices again may influence behaviours. Reactivity, for instance, has been shown to be influenced by owner expertise.

Related reading: Millennials and their pets

Pet age affect in personality

The personality of younger pets, under 6 months of age, were very variable. This may suggest an immaturity of behaviour. This could perhaps be due to physiological factors, such as circulating hormone levels and hormone receptor density. Or it could be that the behaviour of puppies and kittens are more difficult to describe than adult dogs and cats.

Pet gender differences on personality

Gender differences were apparent with male dogs being described as less fearful than females and male cats higher in sociability and neuroticism than females. Gender, however, did not determine species differences in perceived personality traits. Neutering (desexing) did not affect any personality trait. (Previous studies report conflicting results on behaviours such as calmness, destructiveness and aggression.)

Related article: How gender and stereotypes can shape our relationship with dogs 

Effects of owner personalities

Owner personality may affect temperaments of their chosen pets. Owners may create similar or differing personality in their pets, which, of course, complicates how results may be interpreted.

Conspecific effects on pet personality

Many of the owners questioned living with more than one individual of a species. For example, they may have one dog and two cats. The effect of conspecifics (animals of the same species) was important, especially for cats.

The presence of other cats improved the fear and sociability aspects of the cat’s perceived personality but also increased the neurotic aspect. The increase in neuroticism suggests that the presence of other cats may increase stress-related reactions, possibly due to competition for food, space or care.

The increase in sociability in multicat households is interesting. Cats are often considered to be a solitary species. This study, however, supports the hypothesis that cats are a social species since their sociability component increased in multi-cat households. Perhaps, however, living with many cats gives the owners a chance to see the social aspects of their cats’ personalities.

Again, we may not know enough about the cat, their desired social lives and interactions between ‘family’ members. As we artificially create pet families, we have little idea of how they will get along together.

The presence of other dogs was less influential on temperament, with fearfulness being the only personality trait changing. Dogs were less fearful when the number of other dogs in the house increased.

Pets household habits

Living and sleeping habits of pets were also considered. Keeping dogs in the home reduced their fear, but increased their protective instinct. This could have an effect on the aggressive behaviour of dogs or on their level of separation anxiety. Dogs that live in close proximity to their humans could, however, become more sociable or have higher trainability. Perhaps, however, the greatest effects of living in close proximity is the human ability to describe the personality of their pets.

In cats, the sociability component increased and neuroticism reduced when cats slept on their owner’s bed. Which comes first, however? Does sociability lead to sleeping on the bed or does sleeping on the bed create a more sociable cat? Or perhaps a cat sleeping on the bed tells us more about the owner’s personality than that of their cat!

There is a lot that we don’t yet know about living with pets and effects on personality but if you enjoy the sociable aspect of your pet’s personality then have your dog live indoors with you and let your cat sleep on your bed!

Research
* My Dog Is Not My Cat: Owner Perception of the Personalities of Dogs and Cats Living in the Same Household
Personality differences in dog and cat people

About the author
Dr Jo Righetti is the owner of Pet Problems Solved and loves helping people understand the pets and their relationship between them. She is a dog and a cat person! More about Dr Jo and Pet Problems Solved. The first article, written by Dr Jo Righetti, was first published at Starts at 60.