Researchers Came Up With A Way To Tell If Your Cat Is a Psychopath
If you are the owner of a pet cat, you know that it’s often hard to tell exactly what they’re thinking. They might seem totally disinterested whenever you’re upset or have a habit of swatting dead mice around.
As a result, do you ever get the feeling that your cute kitten could be plotting your downfall? One minute, they’re napping in a sunbeam as sweet as can be, and the next, they’re displaying a much darker side. Science has some answers about whether your cat is just quirky or a certified psychopath.
In 2021, a group of researchers at Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom developed a detailed questionnaire that can assess your feline friend’s level of psychopathy.
The model measures levels of meanness, boldness, and disinhibition to gauge aggression and lack of empathy.
The test contains 46 statements, and pet owners must rate how accurate they are using a five-point scale. Some examples of the statements include: “My cat torments their prey rather than killing it straight away,” “my cat is very excitable (e.g., goes into overdrive and becomes uncoordinated),” and “my cat vocalizes loudly (e.g., meows, yowls).”
The test is called CAT-Tri+. It also tracks a pet’s unfriendliness toward people and other cats. In humans, psychopathy is typically identified by a tendency to manipulate others and a lack of empathy.
The researchers felt that most cats possessed some aspect of psychopathy in their personalities because it would have been helpful for their ancestors when it came to acquiring resources, such as food, territory, and mates.
“Our cats and the differences in their personalities inspired us to start this research,” said Rebecca Evans, the lead researcher.
“Personally, I am also interested in how owner perceptions of psychopathy in their cat can affect the cat-owner relationship. My cat (Gumball) scores relatively highly on the disinhibition scale—which means he can be quite vocal, proximity-seeking, and excitable!”
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The purpose of the test was to help pet owners better accommodate their cats and build stronger relationships with them.
For instance, those who score more highly in the boldness category might benefit from spending more time climbing obstacles or scratching posts.
An improved understanding of individual cat behavior could help reduce the amount of cats being put down or sent to shelters.
It is hoped that owners will make adjustments to their environments or training regimens, according to the results of the study.
A total of 2,042 cat owners and their pets were studied in order to develop the final questionnaire. The researchers were able to pinpoint some patterns from the volunteers’ responses.
“Disinhibition and pet-unfriendliness predicted a higher quality cat-owner relationship; meanness and boldness predicted a lower quality relationship,” wrote the researchers.
The study was published in the Journal of Research in Personality.
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