Are you cheerful? Emotional? Sensitive? Humorless? Independent? Apparently, you do not need a psychiatrist to assess you as your pet can do all the analysis.

Research shows that a pet reflects the owner’s personality; that a pet and their owner has physical resemblance.

For people who own dogs are identified as cheerful, felines are for dependable and emotionally sensitive people, while independent is the characteristic of a reptile owner and for the happier person, a tropical fish is their mighty pet.

The research author Professor Richard Wiseman analyzed 2,000 pet owners and reported observing the variation of the people and their choice of pets.

He also said that a pet’s personality is contagious, “If you live with a neurotic person for 20 years, you’re likely to become neurotic yourself. The same might apply to pet owners and their pets.” The professor from the University of Hertfordshire said.

The striking finding of the study is the relationship of a tropical fish and a happier person. Interestingly, fish owners insist that their pets has personality. It may surprise anyone as fish is regarded as having no personality aside from gliding in a tank of water. Anyway, fish owners are shown to be the most contented among the pet owners.

Source: www.news.sky.com

Yes, pets makes us more stronger and happier.

In a study by the University of Buffalo, they found out that pet owners have lower blood pressures than those who didn’t. The study was done when they split a number of stock brokers from New York into two with one group owning a pet and one without. Those who have pets has lower blood pressures and better heart rates than the other group.

Pets are also seen to help fight depression among AIDS patients. In a University of California - Los Angeles study, those inlficted with AIDS but have pets as companion are less likely to develop signs of depression. It is also the same with those living in apartments alone. Those with pets have significally lower stress levels. Interestingly, having a pet is shown to give more comfort than talking to a friend or a spouse.

As for the elderly and newly born, having a dog or a cat have many benefits for their health. For the elderly, it showed that elderly pet owners visit the doctor less frequently and has a optimum well-being. As for the babies, pets are shown to streghthen their immune system and less likely to develop pet allergy in the future.

Pets also help someone who had survived a heart attact survive more. Those survivors living with pets live longer and is less likely to have an attact again.

Amazing how a four legged creature who can barely speak the human language can do to us

Source: www.canada.com

Kids are materialistic. They love ice-cream, toys and anything fancy. Once they didn’t get what they want, they will scowl. Tell them you’ll buy candies, their small faces eventually gleams with delight.

In a study published in the January issue of Health Psychology, it states childhood personality predicts adult behavior. Does this mean adults are materialistic? Not at all. Family and good health still makes people happy according to the study conducted by Economist Richard Easterlin of the University of California.

The power of friendship
Are you the type of individual whom people constantly approach? Being approachable is fun but use it to your advantage and gain more friends. A statistic from the University of Chicago National Opinion Research Center (UC-NORC) reported:

“…those with five or more close friends are 50% more likely to describe themselves as ‘very happy’ than those with smaller social circles.”

“By far the greatest predictor of happiness… is intimate relationships,” Sonja Lyubomirsky, a researcher at the University of California-Riverside said. “It’s definitely not money.”

Say “I do” to be happy
Another way to be happy? Get Married. Even though Hollywood is full of failed marriages, a study also from UC-NORC states that 40% of married American adults see themselves as “very happy,” versus 26% of those who are single.

According to Claire Kamp Dush, being married is connected with less distress, higher self-esteem, greater life satisfaction and greater happiness.

“whereas people who are not in stable romantic relationships tend to report lower self-esteem, less life satisfaction, less happiness and more distress,” the postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Social Sciences at Cornell University added.

Man’s best friend
Surely, one of the happiest recollections of your youth is having a pet. If not, it’s now time to have one although it may cost a little fortune. In an article published at Reader’s Digest magazine, researchers evaluated the heart health of 240 couples, half of whom owned a pet. Couples with pets significantly had lower heart rates and blood pressure levels than the couples who did not have pets.The pets even influenced the promotion of easing stress than other methods. Fantastic!

One can be happy without even dashing a penny. This may sound overused so let’s modify it a little: the best things in life are free; and make us happy!

(Image courtesy of kalandrakas)