Are you a dog person or a cat person? How about both? In a new study led by the University of California, Berkeley, researchers looked at how people’s personality traits and their identification as a cat or a dog person influenced their relationships with their pets. Co-author Mikel Delgado says that those who expressed the most affection towards their pet also rated among the most conscientious and neurotic.

"People who said they were a dog person or that they were both a cat and a dog person did tend to score higher on that affection relationship. And we also found that people who scored highly in neuroticism and conscientiousness were also more likely to have a more affectionate relationship towards their pet."

Delgado says that these types of traits tend to work better with pets because pets require lifelong caregiving. The next step is to see if high affection means actually taking good care of your pet.

"Does that mean that you actually take them to the vet and feed them appropriate food and give them exercise and mental stimulation and enrichment?"