The fact that dogs and cats dislike each other is no secret. Now the results of this new study may evoke a similar feeling between the animal owners. That's because it asserts that cat owners are generally smarter than dog owners!
The new wisdom that was revealed by Denise Guastello at the annual Association for Psychological Science convention held in San Francisco, CA, from May 22-25th, is based on a survey of 600 university students. The Associate Professor of Psychology at Wisconsin's Carroll University asked the youngsters to identify themselves as dog or cat lovers and describe what they liked most about their choice of animal. The survey also included questions that helped the researcher assess their personalities. When the results were analyzed, the professor came away with the conclusion that cat people were intellectually superior than dog people.
Denise says that the results are intuitive because people who prefer dogs generally like being outdoors with their pets, interacting with other like-minded people. In contrast, those that prefer cats have personalities that are more introverted. They would rather spend their days reading or on some other 'intellectual' activity. She believes that it is probably why they chose cats in the first place.
For those that are a little skeptical, here is some unfortunate news - This is not the first time researchers have reached this conclusion. A 2010 study performed by U.K.'s Bristol University stated that 'cat' people were more educated than 'dog' people'.
The data collected from the 2980 people surveyed, showed that cat people were about 1.5 times more likely to have degrees than those that own dogs. However it was not the choice of pet that made them smarter or dumber. It was just that the people with degrees were in jobs that required longer working hours and therefore chose pets that were better suited to this busy lifestyle. Before coming to this conclusion, the scientists did eliminate the possibility of the choice of pet being based on any kind of income disparity.
However, not all is lost for dog owners. While they may be not as smart, their pets sure are. That was revealed by a 2009 study in which cats and dogs were presented with two pieces of string, only one of which was attached to a food reward - Guess which one could never tell which one to pull for the treat? The so-called smart cats of course!
Resources: telegraph.co.uk, dailymail.co.uk,huffingtonnpost.com
