Posted on 10/27/2007 9:43:08 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
Why Fish Fanciers Have The Last Laugh
Saturday October 27, 2007
Pets can provide a good indication of their owners' personalities, a new study has shown.
People who have dogs tend to be cheerful, cat lovers are dependable and emotionally sensitive, and reptile owners independent.
But no-one is happier than a keeper of tropical fish, according to the research.
Fish owners stand out as the most contented of individuals, says psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman from Hertfordshire University, who led the study.
Almost 60% are convinced their fishy friends have a personality and sense of humour.
The research reveals that pets' personalities often mirror those of their owners.
"If you ask someone walking their dog what kind of personality their dog has, they're likely to give away a lot about themselves," said Prof Wiseman.
Previous studies have shown that pet owners often show a physical resemblance to their pets.
"This work suggests that they may also think alike," said Prof Wiseman.
"Interestingly, this similarity increased over time, suggesting that pets may slowly come to adopt their owner's personality, or vice versa."
More than 2,000 owners were invited to give details about both their own and their pets' personalities via a psychological questionnaire posted on a website.
Analysing the results revealed that different kinds of people chose to have different types of pet.
In many cases, owners believed they and their animal companions were psychologically similar.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.sky.com ...
Tropical fish for the win! (I have a dog also).
Yup...my pet makes me very happy.
*************
We have three dogs. One of them threw up in the front seats of the new car yesterday. Not feeling too cheerful about that. :/
Don’t touch my pet salmon!....
“A fish called Wanda”
But no-one is happier than a keeper of tropical fish, according to the research.
An easy call: fish owners get almost nothing back from their fish, so they must already have reserves of contentment upon which to draw. And this fits in with the idea that fish owners are the most godlike of pet owners: the fish owner transcends the watery world of his fish, he drops food down into their world every day or so (manna from heaven), and almost none of the fish acknowledge, or are even aware of, his existence.
It all fits...
“But no-one is happier than a keeper of tropical fish, according to the research.”
Least satisfied are chupacabra owners.
I have a betta, two cats and a dog.
Cheerful, emotionally sensitive, and dependable.
So why do I still have a case of the Mondays?
Ungh...
Nah, not really. Having the fish and the corals to enjoy is really worth it. It truly is relaxing.
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