Dog homeowners square measure abundant happier than cat owners, survey finds


The well-respected survey that’s been a measuring instrument of Yankee politics, culture and behavior for quite four decades finally got around to the question that has bedeviled many another family.

Dog or cat?



In 2018, the final Social Survey for the primary time enclosed A battery of queries on pet possession. The findings not solely quantified the nation’s pet population — nearly vi in ten households have a minimum of one —they created it doable to visualize however pet possession overlaps with all kinds of factors of interest to social scientists.

Like happiness.

For starters, there's very little distinction between pet homeowners and non-owners once it involves happiness, the survey shows. the 2 teams square measure statistically indistinguishable on the chance of characteristic as “very happy” (a very little over thirty percent) or “not too happy” (in the mid-teens).


But once you break the information down by pet sort — cats, dogs or each — a surprising divide emerges Dog homeowners square measure regarding doubly as probably as cat owners to mention they’re terribly happy, with folks owning each falling somewhere in between.

Dog people, in alternative words, square measure slightly happier than those with none pets. Those within the cat camp, on the opposite hand, square measure considerably less happy than the pet-less. And having each seems to cancel one another out happiness-wise. (Since someone’s certain to raise, it isn’t done to try and do this same style of analysis for say, rabbit homeowners or lizard owners or fish owners, since there aren’t enough of those of us within the survey to create a statistically valid sample).


These variations square measure quite large: The happiness divide between dog and cat homeowners is greater than the one between people that establish as middle and socio-economic class, and nearly as a giant because of the gap between people who say they’re in “fair” versus “good or excellent” health.

However, correlation doesn’t equal deed, and there square measure most likely variety of alternative variations between dog and cat homeowners that account for a few of the variations. the final Social Survey knowledge show that dog homeowners, for example, square measure a lot of probably to be married and own their own homes than cat homeowners, each factor known to have an effect on happiness and life satisfaction.

Previous analysis of this subject yielded mixed results. In 2006, the church bench center found no important variations in happiness between pet homeowners|homeowners} and non-pet owners, or cat and dog homeowners. However, that survey failed to distinguish between people that closely-held “only” a dog or a cat, and people WHO closely-held “either” a dog or a cat, probably muddying the distinctions between exclusive dog and cat homeowners.

A 2016 study of dog and cat homeowners, on the opposite hand, yielded bigger happiness ratings for dog homeowners relative to cat folks. It attributed the distinction, a minimum of parts, to variations in personality: Dog homeowners attended to be a lot of agreeable, a lot of extroverted and fewer neurotic than cat homeowners. And a 2015 study joined the presence of a cat within the home to fewer negative emotions, however not essentially a rise in positive ones.



Other analysis makes the case that a number of the pet-happiness relationship is causative, a minimum of once it involves canines. A 2013 study found, for example, that dog homeowners square measure a lot of probably to have interaction in outside physical activity than people that don’t own dogs, with obvious edges for health and happiness.


The research additionally has shown that dog homeowners square measure a lot of probably than other people to make friendships with people in their neighborhoods on the premise of the random encounters that happen once they’re out walking their pets. Those social connections probably contribute to bigger well-being among dog homeowners.

The General Social Survey additionally asked a variety of questions on however folks move with their pets, and therefore the answers can also make a case for a number of the happiness gap. Dog owners, for example, square measure a lot of probably to hunt comfort from their pet in times of stress, a lot of probably to play with their pet, and a lot of probably to contemplate their pet a member of their family. Those variations recommend a stronger social bond with their pets, that might produce a bigger sense of well-being.



Stepping aloof from the information, cat homeowners may protest that possession isn’t regarding “happiness” at all: There’s one thing regarding felines that are grander and a lot of mysterious — one thing that can’t be captured in a very opinion poll.

“A cat has absolute emotional honesty,” as author place it. “Human beings, for one reason or another, might hide their feelings, however a cat doesn't.”

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