Personality Traits of Brazilian Pet Owners and Nonowners and Their Association with Attachment to Pets

Research shows that pet ownership is associated with different personality traits. In addition, the personality of pet owners is related to their level of attachment to their animals. Although there are already studies in the literature on this topic, few have examined these associations in the Brazilian population. The aim of this study, therefore, was to compare the personality traits of a sample (n = 2,463) of pet owners and nonowners from Brazil. We also studied if the level of attachment to their animals was related to the personality traits of the pet owners. The majority (75.3%) of those surveyed had dogs, cats, or both. When we compared pet owners with nonowners, we found that extraversion was higher in pet owners, albeit the effect size was small. In pet owners, the level of attachment was positively correlated with neuroticism. These results suggest that personality traits and attachment should be considered when researching human-animal interaction.