Dating advice for men with cats
In this age where we seem to have an abundance of choices in everything, first impressions are more important than ever. Often, our first impression of a person comes in the form of a profile picture on social media.
In previous studies, researchers had shown that women generally found pet-owning men more attractive and dateable than petless men. However, most of those studies concerned dogs. Is the same true for cats?
Lori Kogan of Colorado State University and Shelly Volsche of Boise State University and Idaho decided to put this to the test. Their paper was published in the journal Animal in June of 2020.
They showed nearly 1,400 young women a photo of a man posing by himself and one of the same man posing with a cat. Without the cat, the men were rated as more extraverted. With the cat, they were seen as more agreeable, neurotic, and open.
Onto the crucial question: did the cat make the men more likely to get a date? About half of women don’t seem to care either way. Among those who do, well, it kind of depends on the man. But there is a slight bias in favour of the catless guy. In one group, 30% of respondents said they were more likely to consider the catless guy, while 19% leaned more towards the cat lover.
Do you have a cat who is named after a famous scientist or has a science-inspired name like Nova or Pixel? Then please send us a picture or video so we can share it with other cat science lovers around the world.