Personality Characteristics and Preferences in Pet Ownership

Bibliographic Data

ID13669243
AuthorsAline H Kidd (Mills College, Oakland, CA, corresponding author), Robert M Kidds (V.A. Medical Center, Martinez, CA)
Year1980
Volume46
Issue3
Pages939-949
Publication date1980-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePsychological Reports (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-2941 • E-ISSN: 1558-691X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2466/pr0.1980.46.3.939
OpenAlexW2061631730
LanguageEN
Citations received47
References cited14

The possibilities for matching pets to owners' personality-types for physical and psycho-social benefits were explored. It was hypothesized that self-identified dog- and cat-lovers would show significant differences on the autonomy, dominance, nurturance, and aggression scales of the Edwards Personal Preference Test. 223 adults completed an experimenter-designed questionnaire and all of the specific Edwards Schedule A questions. An analysis of variance was applied to the scale scores transformed into standardized T scores for each of the Edwards scales. The Scheffé test showed that male cat-lovers were higher and all pet-lovers were lower in autonomy, that male pet- and dog-lovers were higher and female cat-lovers were lower in dominance, that female pet-lovers were higher and all cat-lovers were lower in nurturance, and that male dog-lovers were higher and female dog- and cat-lovers were lower in aggression. The demonstrated differences in owner personality should facilitate matching pets and people to maximize the physical and psycho-social therapeutic benefits of pet ownership

Aggression · Animal welfare · Animal-assisted therapy · Autonomy · Developmental psychology · Dominance (genetics · HUBzero · Personality · Pet therapy · Preference · Test (biology · Clinical Psychology · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Human-Animal Interaction Studies · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology

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