A subjective domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) temperament assessment results in six independent dimensions.
The study of personality or temperament is well developed in many species, but in domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) it has lagged behind. We applied one common methodology, subjective surveys, performed by their owners, to investigate the dimensions of cat temperament. To do this, we developed an eighteen question survey covering common behavioral traits of cats, and had the evaluators rank their cat on a seven point Likert scale for trait. The responses were analyzed with factor analysis, and resulted in six significant dimensions of temperament across the 251 surveys. The six dimensions, in order of importance, are: Cat Social, Active, Human Nonsocial, Human Aggressive, and Intense. Supplemental questions were also included in all the surveys, and MANOVA analysis of these showed that outdoor usage, feeding style (ad-lib vs. meal fed), living with other cats, sex, duration of ownership, and previous history as a stray all had effects on at least one of the dimensions of cat temperament. Future work is clearly needed to fully validate our model and to further investigate our findings.
Animal Behavior Associates of Washington, PMB# 635, 4320 196th S.W. #B, Lynnwood, WA 98036-6754, USA. Electronic address: drdanielsha@gmail.com.
Daniel
D
Ha
Animal Behavior Associates of Washington, PMB# 635, 4320 196th S.W. #B, Lynnwood, WA 98036-6754, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Washington, PO Box 351525, Seattle, WA 98195-1525, USA. Electronic address: jamescraigha@gmail.com.
James
J
Ha
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D002415:Cats / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D013694:Temperament
Factor analysis; Felidae; Felis silvestris catus; Personality; Temperament