No Evidence to Support “Crazy Cat Lady” Stereotype, According to Study

A study published in the Royal Society Open Science seems to have debunked the “crazy cat lady” altogether. The study found out that dog owners are similarly empathetic to the sounds of their distressed pets. Cat owners also didn’t show signs of being more anxious, emotional or depressed than dog owners.

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Researchers at UCLA initially hypothesized that cat owners would be more emotional, or suffer from more anxiety and depression, than other groups they observed, including dog owners and folks with no pets at all. Upon examining the results from the study’s 511 participants (264 owned pets, 297 did not), their hypothesis didn’t hold up.

“We found no differences between cat owners and the other participants on any of the self-reported measures of anxiety, depression or experiences in relationships,” the study explains.

The pet owners, overall, did appear to empathize more with their dogs and cats upon hearing the animals’ meows and whimpers, as they rated the sounds “sadder” than the group who didn’t already own pets.

(Image Credit: StockSnap/ Pixabay)

Source: neatorama

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