Dating apps: Cat men not welcome
Man’s best friend may be helping men get more dating action
My brother found his Alaskan Husky chewing on a Bible, and I haven’t seen the man with a dog ever since. Although I laughed about it — because clearly the dog doesn’t understand the significance of the book — I wasn’t particularly surprised. This was the same guy who invited a cat into my childhood home, knowing full well my parents and me are not cat people. He’s also been married for the past 21 years, so the recent news about cat men being less attractive to women wouldn’t phase him one bit. His family has two cats, and I haven’t heard a word about a dog ever since the chewing incident.
Recommended Read: “When a dog lover understands cat lovers ~ Cat ladies aren’t crazy, according to UCLA study”
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But the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences study could certainly make single, cat-loving men feel a way about the results. According to the study, “the presence of a pet may add to women’s perceptions of male attractiveness and date-ability.”
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However, men who posed with cats were seen as “less masculine; more neurotic, agreeable, and open; and less date-able.” Of course, dog-loving women had unsurprising biases regarding these photographs. And women love their dogs, regardless of the reputation of being called “man’s best friend.” The survey also confirmed that “women view pet owners as more attractive and date-able than non-pet owners; however, this effect was strongest with dog owners.”
Even when doing something as simple as playing a board game, men who looked like “dog people” were rated as more masculine to women (ages 18–23 and a college sample of 485 total). Additionally, men were more successful in obtaining women’s phone numbers when accompanied by a dog (28.3 percent) than when they approached women alone. Oddly though, in another study, “dog people” were rated significantly higher on independence than “cat people” — regardless of cats notoriously having reputations as independent animals who don’t need nearly as much affection as the average dog tends to.