Why Are Some People Animal Lovers While Others Aren't?

Oddly, some factors that you might think would explain the differences in how much people love animals—and the kinds of animals they love—play only minor roles in our relationships with other species. For instance, roughly equal numbers of men and women live with pets. (Women are, however, more likely than men to become animal hoarders). And, while a recent study at the University of Texas found that self-identified “cat people” were both more neurotic and open to new experiences than “dog people,” most studies have found that personality differences between animal lovers and non-animal lovers are small.

Where we were raised and our family circumstances seem to be far more important in determining whether we would prefer a puppy or a giant stag beetle for a pet. My friend Nyaga Mwaniki, an anthropologist, was born in rural Kenya. While the people in his village kept mongrel dogs around to scare away strangers and elephants, the dogs were never petted or played with or allowed in the house. They certainly weren’t loved or considered family members. In fact, his native language, Kiembu, does not even have a word that corresponds to “pet.” In Sri Lanka, whether you are prone to become attached to a puppy is almost completely determined by your religion. Nearly 90 percent of Buddhist homes include a pet dog compared with fewer than 5 percent of Muslim homes.

Family background definitely influences our choice of pets. Children raised in families that included a dog usually become dog-owning adults and cat-kids often become cat-adults. Family structure also plays a role in pet-love. Paradoxically, adults living in families with children have the highest levels of pet ownership and the lowest levels of attachment to their pets. Conversely, adults living alone have the lowest frequency of pet ownership and the highest levels of attachment to their companion animals. Go figure.

The truth is that other than culture and family background, we don’t really know much about why some people are crazy about cats whereas others are drawn to tropical fish or boa constrictors or even rats. One of the tasks of anthrozoology, the new science of human-animal relationships, is to figure out the answer to this intriguing question.

Harold Herzog is a professor of psychology at Western Carolina University and the author of the forthcoming book Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It's So Hard to Think Straight About Animals.