The personality of “aggressive” and “non-aggressive” dog owners

► The personality of people who keep “aggressive” and “non-aggressive” dog breeds was explored. ► Owners of “aggressive” dogs had higher psychoticism scores than owners of “non-aggressive” dogs. ► Dog breed ownership was unrelated to neuroticism, extraversion or lie scale scores. ► Male owners of “aggressive” dogs were found to be less neurotic than women who kept “aggressive” or “non-aggressive” breeds. ► Findings suggest that dog breed ownership is related to recognisable individual traits.