Dog person or cat person? Does your personality influence preference?

When Selena Gwin and Jake Dontavion first met, she had always been a "cat person" and he had always been a "dog person."

But instead of fighting like cats and dogs, the two enjoy relative harmony (the dogs do tolerate an occasional nose-swipe every now and then) with their two cats and two dogs in their Southeast Portland apartment.

"There was a lot of compromising all the way around," Gwin says. "If our relationship wasn't so strong, might have caused more friction, but it ended up working out for us."

The couple, who have been together for 11 years, acquired their brood gradually. Dontavion grew up with dogs and had one when he met Gwin. They took on the cats after their former roommates could no longer care for them, and acquired another dog, Mama Pigs, together.

Many pet lovers use the terms "cat person" or "dog person" loosely to describe their preference for one or the other species. And many of us have a general concept of what we mean when we talk about these people.

While these notions are largely based on speculation, the concept of why people prefer one species over the other has garnered more academic attention over the last few years.

In a 2010 University of Texas study, researchers found those in the canine camp were more extroverted, agreeable and conscientious than cat people. Those who favor felines tend to be more neurotic but more open to art, experiences and unconventional beliefs.

A 2008 study from Ball State University revealed that most cat owners see themselves as having personalities similar to felines – in other words, more independent and less submissive - while most dog owners described themselves as friendly and dominant.

How much such studies really mean is up for debate.

"I feel like we're almost opposite of the stereotypes," Gwin says of she and her fiancé.

While she enjoys spending time with her wide circle of friends, Dontavion is more of a homebody.

"I think I use my dogs as an excuse sometimes," he admits. "But they do force me to be more sociable. I do have to take them out and about to parks, where I meet other dog people."

The fact that dogs require regular walks means their owners are more visible and could explain why we think they're more social, suggests Mary Lee Nitschke, a psychology professor at Linfield College who is also a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist and dog trainer.

"We know people form their impressions from the data that's available to them," says Nitschke.

"How often do you meet a cat at the bank? Not very often," Nitschke notes. "I don't know if that means that cat people are not as social."

What it does mean is that the two difference species live and play in very different environments.

Historically, cats were typically solitary hunters whose main role for humans was either as religious figures (think Egyptians) or for hunting rodents. Dogs, meanwhile, lived in packs or were assigned jobs assisting people.

Our species preference can cut across many dimensions aside from personality alone: there's the physical reality of dealing with a dog that drools or a cat that sheds. Childhood memories also play a role, Nitschke says. Many people are simply more comfortable with a species with which they're familiar.

But sometimes people convert. Take David Boersema, who grew up around dogs and didn't begin to fancy felines until he was a young adult.

The philosophy professor at Pacific University – who bucks one stereotype just by being male – had so many positive cat encounters in college that he decided to adopt one.  

Now, he is a proud "cat daddy" to Karloff, who was abused by a previous owner and walks with a limp, and Mycroft, who was shot in the eye.

Dogs typically want to please their master, he says.

"With a cat, if it approaches you, it wanted to approach you. I guess I'm a cat person because I get a lot from that."

Dogs can be loud and aggressive, he says, and that's just not the case with cats.

Felines also taught him negotiation skills he can apply to his human relationships.

"I truly believe that there's a real valuable lesson for people to learn about how to engage with another being," Boersema says, "where you come to an agreement, an understanding, by negotiating, as opposed to one of the two parties commanding."

Longtime cat owner Darka Stebivka, meanwhile, didn't discover the joys of canine companionship until her early 20s, when she began dog-sitting for friends.

"When it comes to having dogs, there's a more immediate emotional connection," says Stebivka, a Portland-based writer and musician. "You just feel this friendship, like the dog would do anything for you."

She feels such a strong connection with her 12-year-old husky-shepherd mix that sometimes she almost feels she can read the dog's mind.

"If I can read hers," she says, "then she can maybe read mine in some way." 

Stebivka says she isn't inclined to believe any stereotypes about personality type based on species preference.

She speculates that the cliché of the "crazy cat lady," for instance, simply came about because caring for a cat is simply easier for an elderly woman to care for.

Stebivka hasn't changed drastically since she identified as a cat person, she says; a dog simply suits her better now.

"Frankly, I think my dog takes care of me," she says. "I would not be in the park six days a week if not for my dog."

Highlights from the University of Texas study:

The study, published in the September 2010 issue of the journal Anthrozoös, asked 4,565 participants to self-identified as a either a dog person, cat person, both, or neither. Researchers then assessed their personality based on the "Big Five" personality dimension commonly used by psychologists. 

Researchers found that:

46 % of respondents identified themselves as dog people, while only 12% called themselves cat people.

Nearly 28% described themselves as both, and 15% said they were neither.

Dog people were 15% more extroverted, 13% agreeable and 11% more conscientious than their cat-loving counterparts.

Jake and Selena1.jpgCat lover Selena Gwin and longtime dog owner Jake Dontavion combined their love for their respective species with each other. Here the couple is shown with their brood (from left to right): Gigi, O.Z., Scribble and Mama Pigs.

Feline fanatics were found to be 12% more neurotic and 11% more open than dog people.

--Monique Balas