We tend to hear that dogs resemble their owners, and not without reason. Over the years we have seen how, like us, they lose their hair due to stress, feel sad at the loss of a loved one and understand our emotions. Therefore, it is not surprising that these animals come to imitate personality from those around them, something that science has just backed up.
We are talking about a study recently carried out by a team from the University of Vienna (Austria) and published in the magazine PLoS ONE, which confirms that dogs adopt traits of the character of the people with whom they live. To do this, the scientists brought together a total of 132 dogs with their owners, and analyzed the behavior of all of them when faced with certain tests.
During them, the experts observed the reactions of both animals and people, monitoring some details such as heart rate or cortisol levels. In addition, human participants responded to a survey to measure levels of five main personality traits: sympathy, neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness and openness. Afterwards, they completed a similar questionnaire about the character of their pets.
During the study, the scientists were able to verify, as they included in their conclusions, that if the owner was anxious and neurotic, the dog also adopted these attitudes. On the contrary, the owners of calm people were also calm. And it is that dogs are sensitive animals to the emotional states of the people who live with them, because over the years they have established a special bond us.
According to Iris Schoberl, lead author of the research, “Our results show that dogs and their owners are social dyads, that is, pairs of two beings especially linked to each other, and that feed each other influencing their behavior«. In fact, the research determined that it is the human who exerts the greatest influence on the dog.