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| Have you ever
wondered if your personality influences the type of pet you choose? Or perhaps it’s the reverse. Psychologists are collecting and analyzing personality data and relating this to pet ownership. Help this research by visiting their website at www.tellmemytype.com. Their early results show that pet owners are oriented towards feelings and intuition as opposed to logic and instinct. We pet owners are also creative and spontaneous. No real surprises here for those of us who love to live with our pets! But what about 'Categories of people' who are more likely to own pets? The psychologists are narrowing down those profiles too. For instance, if you are a woman who follows your heart more so than your mind; you're in your forties; have at least one male child living with you…then you are more likely to own a pet. Other tell-tale characteristics? Well, chances are you are a pet owner if you are; a woman who has some difficulty adhering to strict schedules and commitments; you also like to follow your intuition; and you consider more than logic alone when making important decisions. Sound like anyone you know? The least likely people to own pets are tertiary educated men who; like to think concretely; speak spontaneously in social gatherings; and prefer to produce things rather than design or create them. Other research suggests that pet owners view their pet as projections of themselves… with some interesting differences depending on where we live! Outer suburban people view their pet as 'an independent creature, bound by the constrains of by-laws'. Middle suburban residents are more likely to think of their dog as 'a child, providing support and company for the family and especially a playmate for the children'. They suggest that this could be reflecting values about themselves. We even use pets to project the type of identity we want others to believe we own. Just think about all those world leaders who all appear with their 'faithful dog' by their side. Talk about positive P.R. Film-makers use a character's relationship with animals to help viewers identify with specific personalities. Invariably (and unjustly) Dogcatchers are almost always portrayed as the 'bad guys', as are people who display cruelty towards animals. The single bloke with a pet dog? Well, of course…he's going to win the woman’s heart in the end! Most of us perceive people with pets positively - incredibly, even those of us who have had an unfortunate negative experience with an animal. Apparently because pet ownership is so common in our experience, we are comfortable with the familiar and anyone who owns a pet just has to be a caring, sharing kind of individual! |
© 2004 Lipscomb
Enterprises, LLC