Cats could be as effective as dogs in University stress relief programmes but are often overlooked, according to a new study.
Researchers set out to find out if people would benefit from interactions with cats as more than 85 percent of "Pet Your Stress Away" events only include dogs. Their findings, published in the journal Anthrozoös showed that many were interested in having cats at these types of events.
They also found that highly emotional people were more likely to be more highly drawn to cats. This is because those who took part in the study and said that they wanted to see more cats at stress relief events scored highly for the Emotionality personality trait.
Emotionality, part of a well-established psychology model called the Big Five personality traits, indicates a person has strong emotions and is highly reactive to them.
"Emotionality is a pretty stable trait; it doesn't fluctuate and is a quite consistent feature of our personalities," said co-author Patricia Pendry, a professor in Washington State University 's Department of Human Development.
She continued: "We found that people on the higher end of that scale were significantly more interested in interacting with cats on campus. Given that prior research has shown that such individuals may be more open to forming strong attachments to animals, it makes sense they would want cats to be included in these programs."
The researchers surveyed more than 1,400 university students and staff for the paper from over 20 universities. They wanted to see if there were any differences in personality between those who choose to interact with cats and those who choose to interact with dogs.
Pendry commented: "Anecdotally, we've always been told that cat people are different from dog people, and that most students are not interested in interacting with cats. Our results revealed that students are interested in interacting with cats and that this interest may be driven by personality traits."
To see if there would be a wider interest in cats being used for stress relief, the researchers included faculty and staff, in addition to students, and found no differences between the groups.
"We think of college student populations as being unique, and in several ways they are," lead author Joni Delanoeije said. "But when we looked at university employees, the results were very similar: Personality mattered more than being a student or employee.
"That shows there would be interest in having animal interventions in non-university settings and other workplaces."
Pendry concludes: "We're looking for ways to help more people reduce their stress levels. Adding cats may be another way to reach a broader audience."
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