Study: Women Less Likely to Date Men Who Have Cats

The cats out of the bag when it comes to the type of men women don’t want to date. Women are less likely to date men who love cats, according to a new study. Researchers from Colorado State University recently polled hundreds of women to determine how attracted they were to men who owned cats and most of the respondents said they would swipe left — reject them on a dating app — if they came across photos of men holding cats in their profile pics.

To arrive at their findings, scientists surveyed 708 women aged between 18 and 24 in an online study. They were shown photos of two men, both pictured with and without cats in their arms, but women were drawn to images that did not feature a furry companion.

The respondents were first shown a cat-free image of a male participant and 38% agreed they were likely to casually date him. Furthermore, 37% said they would consider a serious relationship with him but those numbers dropped and made women pause when they were shown a second image of the same participant holding a cat. Those wanting to casually or seriously date the male participant dropped to 33% while 14% said they would never consider getting involved.

Scientists came across similar results when they showed respondents photos of a second male participant pictured alone then holding a cat. When pictured without a feline friend, 40% of the women said it was unlikely they would date him but that number jumped to 45% when they saw images of the same participant holding a cat.

"Men holding cats were viewed as less masculine; more neurotic, agreeable, and open; and less dateable," the authors wrote.

This may have something to do with cultural stereotypes.

"It is important to note that these findings were influenced by whether the female viewer self-identified as a 'dog' or 'cat' person, suggesting that American culture has distinguished 'cat men' as less masculine, perhaps creating a cultural preference for 'dog men' among most heterosexual women in the studied age group," the authors wrote.

"If this indeed remains a cultural perception, then women who perceive a man holding a cat as less masculine could, potentially, believe he is also gay. This may be compounded by the perceptions of him as more neurotic, as well."