China Daily (Hong Kong)

Study shows cat people are single and dog people have more friends

- By JAMES TITCOMB

It’s a long-held division often dismissed as a lazy stereotype: dog people are friendly, outgoing and popular, while cat-owners tend to prefer their own company.

But the image of the singleton who is content with some feline companions­hip is not far from the truth, at least according to Facebook users.

Researcher­s at the social network, who studied 160,000 profiles in the US, found that 30 per cent of those who shared cat photos were single, against 24 per cent of those who posted photograph­s of dogs.

“Dog people”, like their furry companions, tend to be more outgoing. On average, users with dog photos on their pages had 26 more friends than the more-reserved cat-lovers.

And the adage that owners tend to resemble the personalit­ies of their pets also appears to ring true. True to the form of cartoon felines such as Garfield, cat owners tended to disproport­ionately post status updates about being “tired”, while owners of the typically-overactive dogs posted almost 25 per cent more “excited” updates.

The study did, however, highlight at least some advantages for cat owners. The quality of cat-lovers’ friendship­s appear to be higher as, despite having fewer friends than their canine-owning counterpar­ts, they are invited to more events on Facebook.

Unsurprisi­ngly, cat owners are more likely to live in big cities, and disproport­ionately enjoy indoor activities such as watching films and TV and reading books.

When it comes to taste, however, cat and dog people have stark difference­s. Cat lovers overwhelmi­ngly enjoy sci-fi, listing the likes of Dracula, Doctor Who and Terminator 2 among their favourite titles.

Dog owners prefer more light- hearted or romantic titles such as The Notebook or The Voice. The overwhelmi­ng favourite book was Marley & Me, the heartwarmi­ng bestseller that charted the life of a haphazard pet and his owner.

“Cat people are especially fond of fantasy, sci-fi, and anime, while dog people like love stories and things about, well, dogs,” the researcher­s wrote.

Cat people are especially fond of fantasy, sci-fi, and anime, while dog people like love stories and things about, well, dogs.” Facebook researcher­s

 ?? PHOTOS BY GETTY IMAGES ?? Cats, like their owners, are happier without company.
PHOTOS BY GETTY IMAGES Cats, like their owners, are happier without company.
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