There’s a billion quizzes online that say they can help you choose your first pet, and my 45 minutes of googling before posting this did turn up a single blog that suggested that owners of a class of pet share certain personality traits and lifestyles (although they frustratingly seemed to forget that people own things like snakes, ferrets, lizards, rats, frogs, tarantulas, turtles, mice, etc.)

I am certainly willing to buy that people who have the same kind of pet are more likely to have traits in common, but has there been any research into which traits cause people to choose a hamster over a cat, as well as which traits are partially caused/amplified by the ownership of the pet?

If you have access to any psych papers about this subject, please link to a pdf copy of it because I don’t know how to pirate research papers

Edit: Specifically I’m curious about “good-faith” personality traits, beliefs, and preferences that could lead to a pet acquisition. I am perfectly aware, for example, that statistically most hamsters are owned by a child whose parents chose it because it is tiny and can be stuffed into a tiny carcinogenic box forever until it dies of stress and malnourisment, as well as that most guinea pigs are bought by parents who want to see if their kid can keep it alive for a while before getting a “real” pet. I dont think those reasons count and am not interested in those.

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    1 year ago

    All of my hamster deaths were cat related.

    I believe there was an article a few years ago regarding cat/dog people and political party.

    • Wugmeister@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
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      1 year ago

      I suppose cat-realated deaths are better for the poor hammy than being getting stuck in the legs of Chickenleigh’s Tiny TalesTM XL Dinosaur with Activity Center. Or being whipped around the room in a cage that looks like a fire truck or police car.

      I swear to God anytime I see a “kid-friendly” hamster cage my blood starts to boil. I mean, the storage tub I keep my hammy in doesnt look super exciting, but it’s got lots of space for my little dude to tunnel and a huge wheel so he doesn’t get back problems. It’s really not that hard.