In the first week of December, the Journal of Research in Personality published a survey carried out by scientists from University of Liverpool and John Moores University which established a method to assess whether cats can be psychopaths.
about the study
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First of all, it is important to highlight that the research used 2,042 cat owners and developed 46 questions to assess the behavior of cats. This questionnaire was named CAT-Tri+ and was based on examples of cat attitudes following the triarchic model of psychopathy (boldness, meanness and disinhibition).
In this way, the cat's owner answers the questions according to his pet's behavior. These questions are in scale format from 1 to 5. In the end find out if he has traces of psychopathy. Here are some sample questions:
- “My cat is often agitated and apparently uncoordinated”;
- “He dominates the neighborhood cats”;
- “My cat torments its prey instead of killing it immediately”;
- “It usually purrs when attacking people and animals”;
- “My cat vocalizes loudly (for example, meows or howls) for no apparent reason”;
- “Usually sits in high places”;
What was evaluated?
Following this logic of questions, the questionnaire at the end will analyze 5 points: disinhibition, boldness, meanness, relationship with pets and with human beings.
Thus, disinhibition is for behavioral problems, while meanness is for aggressiveness and lack of empathy. Boldness, on the other hand, refers to the animal's dominance and lack or little fear.
Based on these questions, it was also possible to estimate the degree of relationship between the pet and its owner. So it was established that bold and mean felines have no connection with their owner, while uninhibited and mean cats have a better relationship.
What did you conclude?
Ultimately, the scientists who formulated this test believe that all cats have a bit of psychopathy, and that comes from their ancestors. This is because they lived more freely and faced issues related to mating, fights over territory and food.
They also believe this study can help cat owners and veterinarians better create the animal and understand it, after all, their personality also affects their relationship with the tutor and other animals. In addition, questions can help identify behavioral problems as well as their treatment.
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