Dog Choice May Reveal Certain Personality Traits

Dogs may reveal more about their owners than intended. It turns out that the type of dog that a person selects, can tell a lot about his or her personality, including traits like aggressiveness and openness to new experiences. 

The recent study, done in the United Kingdom, shows that more argumentative people are more likely to choose aggressive dogs like the Staffordshire bull terrier. More agreeable people tended to choose more likeable dogs such as the retriever.

Previous research presented at the  British Psychological Society Annual Conference in April showed that owners of toy dogs, like chihuahuas, score high on a personality trait called openness, a measure of how intellectually curious, open to new experiences and appreciative of arts and culture a person is.

This study focused on seven of the ten most popular dog breeds in the United Kingdom, with Staffordshire bull terriers being rated the most aggressive, and retrievers and cocker spaniels being rated the least.

"We did not include the American pit bull, which I know is of concern in the U.S., as the Staffordshire bull terrier is essentially equivalent and similarly reputationed," Vincent Egan, a psychologist at the University of Leicester, told LiveScience.

 It seems that young people prefer aggressive breeds as well, but that aggressive dogs do not correlate with a desire to give off a "bad-boy image." Instead, the opposite may be true.

"Liking a pedigree Labrador or a clipped poodle may be as much a statement as having a pit bull with a studded collar," said Egan.The study found no link between liking a pit bull and delinquent behavior or between having an aggressive dog in order to show off romantically.