From Eleanor Abernathy on The Simpsons to Angela Martin on The US Office, popular culture loves to portray “crazy cat ladies” as neurotic loners.
Although the archetype is sometimes described as a myth, a new study suggests there may actually be some truth to it.
Researchers in Australia have found that cat owners, both male and female, tend to be more neurotic than dog owners.
It is unclear whether owning a cat makes people neurotic or whether neurotic people are more likely to buy a feline.
Dog owners, meanwhile, are likely to be more resilient, meaning they are better at coping and adapting to difficult situations, the study found.
Personality differences have been consistently demonstrated between “dog lovers” and “cat lovers” (archive photo)
Possibly the most famous “crazy cat lady” in popular culture is Eleanor Abernathy in The Simpsons (pictured)
The research was conducted by Jessica Oliva and Leah Michelle Baines, two psychologists at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia.
Although they did not specifically investigate the “crazy cat lady” phenomenon, their findings support its existence.
‘Owning a cat positively predicted neuroticism,’ they report in their paper, published in the journal Anthrozoans.
‘The kind of people who enjoy having dogs are also the kind of people who can “bounce back” from stressful situations more easily.
‘On the contrary, the type of people who like to have cats may be more susceptible to the negative impacts of stress.’
For the study, researchers surveyed and interviewed 321 Australian adults who owned dogs or cats or neither.
Participants who owned both species of pets were asked to self-select into the categories of “dog owner” or “cat owner” based on which animal they were closest to or spent the most time with (60 percent chose dogs).
Pictured here is Angela Martin (played by actress Angela Kinsey) in The US Office: a high-strung accounting department head who loves cats.
Personality traits were measured for all participants, including extroversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and resilience.
The results revealed that dog owners demonstrated higher levels of resilience, while cat owners demonstrated higher levels of neuroticism, after controlling for age and gender.
“Contrary to our expectations, no other personality differences were found between pet owners,” the duo reports.
Interestingly, female cat owners also scored higher on neuroticism than male cat owners, supporting the “crazy cat lady” archetype.
However, the link between owning a cat and having a neurotic personality is not exclusive to females, it is just stronger.
So the findings suggest that the “crazy cat gentleman” is also a phenomenon.
Although the reason for the findings is not entirely clear, more introverted or neurotic people may be genetically inclined to own cats, while more resilient people own dogs.
Female cat owners scored higher on neuroticism than male cat owners, supporting the “crazy cat lady” archetype (file photo)
“There is evidence to support the idea that genes guide the ownership of a particular species,” Dr. Oliva said.
Alternatively, the experience of owning a cat may make people more neurotic compared to owning a dog.
For example, because dogs love to walk, owning a canine may increase the likelihood of getting out of the house, leading to more social interactions and less neuroticism.
In contrast, felines do not require this type of care, meaning cat owners may not benefit from this level of interaction.
According to Dr. Oliva, personality differences have been consistently demonstrated between “dog people” and “cat people.”
“Owning a dog has been associated with lower loneliness in people living alone during periods of prolonged isolation, such as during Covid lockdowns, suggesting higher levels of resilience in dog owners,” she said.
How well do you know your cat? The 13 secret signs cats give their owners
Cats are often portrayed as aloof, solitary creatures who spend their days plotting the deaths of their human owners, but such characterizations couldn’t be further from the truth.
In fact, our feline friends constantly communicate their feelings of affection to us, whether through their whiskers, their tail, their face or their body language.
In her revealing new book Kitty Language: An Illustrated Guide to Understanding Your Cat, author Lili Chin, with the help of animal behaviorists, explains how to interpret your pet’s movements.
Below are some of the most common behaviors and what they might indicate.
Our feline friends constantly communicate their feelings of affection to us, whether through their whiskers, tail, face or body language.