This is the cat’s meow: feline owners are smarter than their canine counterparts, according to a new study.
The study, conducted by Carroll University on 600 students, scratched a sensitive subject for animal aficionados testing participants’ intelligence and its correlation to whether they identified as a dog or cat person.
Dogs may be a man’s best friend, but cats, and their owners, proved that it pays to have brains and beauty. Cat lovers scored half a deviation higher than dog lovers on the 16 Personality Factors intelligence scale, developed by Raymond Cattell, who spent his life researching the connection between personality and intelligence.
The results were surprising for psychology professor Denise Guastello, who led the study.
“I’m a dog person and I think i’m very bright because I’m a professor,” she told the Post. “I was really shocked.”
About 60 percent of the study’s participants called themselves dog lovers, six times more than those who identified as cat lovers. Guastello also noticed that of the four test subject groups – cat lovers, dog lovers, those who like both and those who are not a fan of either – those who didn’t identify as an animal person scored the lowest on the intelligence test.
Guastello wouldn’t go as far to say that her findings meant people who have pet peeves aren’t smart, but it was a highlight of her study.
Like their furry friends, the students who were more introverted, sensitive and good at breaking rules tended to be a cat crusader. Those that were more energetic and outgoing were more likely to identify as a puppy pal.
Dog owners are also more conscientious, especially when it comes to rules, Guastello said. Puppy people train their dogs to listen to their commands whereas cat owners “don’t usually have that luxury.”
‘It makes sense that a dog person is going to be more lively, because they’re going to want to be out there, outside, talking to people, bringing their dog,” Guastello said at the annual Association for Psychological Science meeting in Chicago. “Whereas, if you’re more introverted and sensitive, maybe you’re more at home reading a book and your cat doesn’t need to go outside for a walk.”