Personality Shapes Interest in Stress Relief Events With Cats

"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," says Patricia Pendry. "Our results revealed that students are interested in interacting with cats and that this interest may be driven by personality traits." Mel Elías/Unsplash

Many people, especially those with strong and highly reactive emotions, want and would benefit from interactions with cats to reduce stress, according to a new study.

Universities implementing animal-assisted interventions like “Pet Your Stress Away” events have proven benefits, but more than 85% of them only include dogs, according to researchers. The new paper found a high level of interest in adding cats to the mix.