Johnson: Human personality determines best pets

It’s pretty obvious how they feel about us, especially when their tails wag excitedly, they give us wide, toothy grins, curl around our legs meowing, or pounce in our general direction with uninhibited enthusiasm.

Yep, we make them happy all right, and if the furry little faces pressed against the window watching you pull up the driveway are any indications; we

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downright make their worlds complete.

Sometimes the pairings are odd and, from the outside, it is easy to question how the bonds form – even cranky people have pets glued to their shadows and critters with snaggle-toothed faces only a mother could love have people that live to cuddle them — you name it, there seems to be a pet for every type of person and a person for every type of pet.

Why the bonds form and what it is that draws certain pets to certain people can often be impossible to explain, but ultimately in their own unique ways, the relationships work.

Not only do they work, the majority of the time, they result in a scenario that is laden with positive exchanges on both sides, hence the wagging tails and cranky people that do in fact smile, even if it is only at their pet.

There is simply no other way to describe what often happens as a result of the pet dynamic — for the critter and the human — other than to call it happiness.

However, choosing to share one’s life with a pet is not necessarily the key to happiness.

To the contrary, a research team from Manhattanville College in New York discovered pet owners and non-pet owners — Based on a survey of 262 people, evenly split between males and females and ranging in age from 19 to 68 years old — are just about evenly matched when it comes to happiness and feelings of positive or negative emotion.

Just because happiness levels appear to be pretty equal, doesn’t mean there is no advantage, however.

While they may share the same general feelings and emotions as their animal-free counterparts, the study did find that pet owners are actually more satisfied with their lives than those who have no pets.

Strictly looking at pet owners, other distinctions surfaced in the results, namely differences between the types of pets people have and the way they describe their own well-being and mental health.

When it comes to openness, dog and cat owners are pretty equal, but across the board, researchers report that dog owners show higher levels of happiness, life satisfaction, positive emotions and lower negative emotions than cat owners. Likewise, dog owners scored higher in the areas of extroversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness and lower levels of neuroticism.

If the results indicate anything regarding people and their chosen pets, the connection is likely about the human personalities, emotional regulation style and need satisfaction rather than the species itself, researchers concluded.

People without critters at all can be, and in fact are, happy, and though they might find greater satisfaction if they shared that happiness, pets may not be the solution for them.

When it comes to which critter to share one's happiness with, however, cats and dogs are very different animals. Cats, as a general rule, determine when and how they want attention — perfect for some people but not enough for others — where as the majority of dogs want attention all the time.

The reality is being a pet person is about the human, and, when it comes to finding life satisfaction and happiness with the perfect pet, understanding one’s self goes a long way.

Sharna Johnson is a writer who is always searching for ponies. You can reach her at:

[email protected].