Dog people and cat people really ARE different!

We all know that there are differences between "cat people" and "dog people," but now researcher have set out to prove it. As part of the Gosling-Potter Internet Personality Project, researchers at University of Texas at Austin surveyed people to understand the differences. The larger project examines surveys from 4,500 people to measure their levels of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

Self-identified dog people scored significantly higher on their levels of extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. They scored lower than self identified cat people on neuroticism.

The lead researcher, Sam Gosling, put it this way: "Once you know the findings, it kind of falls into place. You think, 'of course, agreeableness and extraversion -- dogs are companionable, they hang out, they like to be with you, they like your company, whereas cats like it for as long as they want it, and then they're off." Gosling has also suggested that these findings could be helpful in determining what type of pet therapy would be best for a particular individual human.

[Image courtesy of PhotoBucket]