Michael Martindale | 2025 I.S. Symposium

Name: Michael Martindale
Title: Pups, People, and Personality in the Wake of a Post-Pandemic Shelter Crisis
Major: Psychology (concentrating on animal behavior, especially the anthropological interactions of human and animal psychology)
Minor: Biology
Advisors: Claudia Thompson; Dan Scheibe

American animal shelters are in crisis following the COVID-19 pandemic adoption spike. With returns and relinquishments at an all-time high, it is crucial to understand the complex web of factors that determine the success or failure of shelter dog adoptions. This study aimed to examine the effect of dog-owner pair personality interactions using a cross-species model of the Big Five. The dogs of the Wayne County Dog Shelter (n = 48) had their personalities assessed using the Canine-Big Five Inventory, the Monash Personality Questionnaire-Revised, and routine, shelter-conducted temperament tests. The people who adopted them (n = 50) were asked to complete the Ten-Item Personality Inventory and to answer questions relating to their satisfaction with their new companions. Novel methods were designed to determine what is considered as a “match” between personalities in the owner-dog pairs. Owners’ personalities generally were not similar to that of their dogs. Furthermore, personality similarity had no significant correlation with adoption satisfaction/success (p>.05), although participants reported being generally satisfied with their dogs regardless of personality match or length of ownership at time of report (r(48) = .037, p >.05). Qualitative results supported this, as even owners who indicated several, long-term behavioral issues reported being satisfied, indicating that a positive outlook and an agreeable nature is crucial for successful adoptions. My findings were exciting because they not only provided the Wayne County Dog Shelter with information on the post-adoption experience for their shelter dogs, but also added a unique approach to the limited literature on how personality interaction in owner-dog pairs relates to adoption success. My study shows that personality plays an important role in post-adoption success, rather than in adoption choice.

Posted in Symposium 2025 on May 1, 2025.