BERKELEY, Calif., Jan. 15 (UPI) — The neuroses that drive parents to hover anxiously over their children, coddling and overprotective, may make for some embarrassing moments at the playground, but they’re a perfect match for the dog park.
According to a new study by psychologists and sociologists at the University of California, Berkeley, the traits that make so-called helicopter parents overbearing are similar to those that make dog and cat lovers nurturing.
Researchers drew the connection after surveying more than 1,000 people. Respondents answered questions about their personality traits and nurturing styles. Each person surveyed defined themselves as either a cat lover, dog lover, both or neither.
The results suggested the most emphatic animal lovers tended to possess the traits that typify helicopter parents.
“The fact that higher levels of neuroticism are associated with affection and anxious attachment suggests that people who score higher on that dimension may have high levels of affection and dependence on their pets, which may be a good thing for pets,” study co-author Mikel Delgado, a doctoral student in psychology at Berkeley, explained in a recent press release.
The new research, which was published this week in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, adds to a growing body of scientific literature that attempts to tease out the quirks of animal lovers, as well as those traits that separate dog people from cat people.
A 2010 study found that dog lovers are on average more extroverted, but less apt to welcome new experiences. Cat people, on the other hand, were found to be more kooky — a trade-off for their more creative and adventurous ways.
A newer study confirmed those findings, and also claimed that cat lovers tended to score higher on intelligence tests.
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