Feline playful: personality traits of the cat discovered

A mixture of five behavioural traits make up a cat’s personality, according to a recent study carried out in Australia and New Zealand. The ‘feline five’ are: Impulsiveness (erratic and reckless behaviour); Dominance (bullying, jealousy, aggression toward other cats); Agreeableness (affection, gentleness, friendliness toward people); Extraversion (vigilance, inquisitiveness, inventiveness, playfulness); Neuroticism (insecurity, anxiety, fear of people, suspicion, shyness). In the study, almost 3000 cat owners were asked to rank 52 different traits that make up their cat’s personality – such as fearful of people, gentle and inventive – from ‘not at all’ to ‘very much so’. From this, the researchers grouped the traits into five main personality factors. Personality refers to consistent individual differences in behavioural patterns, sometimes labelled as temperament. The researchers explain that there is little known about typical pet cat behaviour, as most behavioural studies are conducted in laboratories, shelters...
Source: Veterinary Record - Category: Veterinary Research Tags: News section Source Type: research