What does your pet say about you? Relationship between personality and pet preference

Gavranović, Petra. (2014). What does your pet say about you? Relationship between personality and pet preference. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Psychology. [mentor Vukasović Hlupić, Tena].

PDF (Croatian) - Registered users only Download (498kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

Stereotypes about dog people and cat people and the differences between them are often shown by the media and continue to be a daily topic. Asserted differences have also been the subject of several studies in personality psychology which had not yet provided unambiguous and undeviating proof about the course and nature of these differences. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the five-factor model personality traits and pet preference. 437 people (315 female and 122 male) participated in an online survey in which they completed the Big Five Inventory, provided their basic information and self-identified as a dog person, cat person, both or neither. 49.4% of the participants self-identified as a dog person, 13.5% as a cat person, 25.2% as both and 11.9% as neither. Results suggest that dog people are higher on extraversion and opennes than are cat people. Also, men who identify themselves as dog people score higher on extraversion, opennes and conscientiousness than men who identify themselves as cat people. Such differences were not found with women. The focus of future research should be on exploring other personality traits and people with preference for other animals.

Actions (login required)

View Item