How do I assign values based on multiple conditions for existing columns?

numpy.select

This is a perfect case for np.select where we can create a column based on multiple conditions and it’s a readable method when there are more conditions:

conditions = [
    df['gender'].eq('male') & df['pet1'].eq(df['pet2']),
    df['gender'].eq('female') & df['pet1'].isin(['cat', 'dog'])
]

choices = [5,5]

df['points'] = np.select(conditions, choices, default=0)

print(df)
     gender      pet1      pet2  points
0      male       dog       dog       5
1      male       cat       cat       5
2      male       dog       cat       0
3    female       cat  squirrel       5
4    female       dog       dog       5
5    female  squirrel       cat       0
6  squirrel       dog       cat       0