''The Animal in You'' is a 1995 non-fiction book by

Roy Feinson Roy Feinson is a South African born software engineer, author, and artist who patented the first fully functional predictive text system that included disambiguation and local dictionary storage. Founder and President of EmergeX.AI, Doubletake I ...

, which posits a biological basis as to why people tend to exhibit personality traits similar to animal species. The book hypothesizes that through the process of

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

, people adopt a niche set of behaviors enabling them to cope with their particular social milieu in the same way as individual animal species adapt to their environments. The book has been translated into ten different languages, including Mandarin, Japanese, Czech, Hebrew and French, and has been featured on CNN, The Dr. Phil Show and CBS The Talk

The Personality Test

''The Animal in You'' features a personality test of nine questions that collapses to one of 45 possible personality types. After readers answer the questions about their personality and physical attributes, the test returns a number corresponding to one of the 45 animal personality types, appearing in a look-up table. The underlying mechanisms for these types of tests are trivial fo
modern software based Internet tests
but this is the first known example of a book-based test able to resolve over 20 categories. The test is augmented by an interdependent weighting scheme wherein each question is assigned a different weight depending on how the other questions are answered.

The Animals

The animal personalities are broken down into the broad categories shown below.

Carnivores

Traits: ''Powerful, Optimistic, Territorial, Courageous, Fastidious, Athletic, Adventurous, Energetic, Attractive, Fun, Loving, Talented, Flamboyant, World Travelers, Loyal'' * Otter * Wolf * Sea Lion * Wild Dog * Walrus * Lion * Shark * Tiger * Bear * Fox * Wild Cat * Badger * Weasel * Dog. Optimistic

Herbivores

Traits: ''Sociable, Hard Working, Sober, Friendly, Family Oriented, Organized, Reliable, Methodical, Conservative'' * Baboon * Elephant * Bison * Giraffe * Cottontail * Gorilla * Deer * Rhinoceros * Hippo * Sable * Horse * Sheep * Mountain Goat * Warthog * Zebra.

Rodents & Insectivores

Traits: ''Small, Creative, Thrifty, Active, Resilient, Cautious, Socially, loving, Bright'' * Mole * Bat * Porcupine * Beaver * Prairie Dog * Shrew * Mouse

Birds

Traits: ''Energetic, Attractive, Fun-Loving, Talented, Flamboyant, World Travelers'' * Penguin * Eagle * Rooster * Owl * Swan * Peacock * Vulture

Reptiles

Traits: ''Artistic Creative Quick Tempered Moody Quirky Unpredictable'' * Crocodile * Snake

Animal Attraction

"Animal Attraction" was a sequel to "Animal In You," published by St. Martin's Griffin Press in 1999. This book explored the types relationship
suggested by the different personality types

Citations in Academic Articles

Pets and People: Companions in Commerce? Holbrook. Advances in Business Marketing and Purchasing. Wallpach, Woodside. Are Birds of a Feather Flocking to the Beach? Black.

References

External links

* The book's website was one of the earliest comprehensive personality tests available on the web and receives over {{DEFAULTSORT:Animal in You, The South African non-fiction books American non-fiction books Ethology Works about personality