Some researchers have developed a test to clear up doubts

“My cat is a psychopath.” We’ve probably heard that phrase a few times, uttered by someone who has just suffered some feline prank. A figurative expression that a group of scientists wants to know if it has anything literal.

Adapting the model. To do this, the team adapted the triarchic model of psychopathy to feline behavior. This model measures three traits: boldness, malice, and disinhibition. From them it is intended to estimate the “psychopathic tendencies”, in this case, of these domestic animals.

CAT-Tri+. The CAT-Tri+ test was therefore created with the aim of estimating these “psychopathic tendencies” of cats, all from the triarchic model. The test (available online) is made up of 46 questions to answer with options between “does not describe my cat” to “describes my cat extremely well.”

The questions are distributed in five categories: audacity, disinhibition, malice, animosity towards pets and animosity towards humans. In total, the test provides a total index, the “CAT-Tri+ measure.”

Triple study. The team put the test to the test through three studies, each focused on different aspects and carried out in populations of between 30 and 1,463 individuals. The first of the studies served to identify the candidate elements to develop the CAT-Tri scales.

For the second study, a questionnaire with various questions was proposed to the participants based on the preliminary CAT-Tri questionnaire, the feline personality questionnaire “feline five” or the so-called relationship subscales between cat and owner. The third study served to investigate the associations between the cats’ daily activities and the CAT-Tri scales.

The team observed that the characteristics of disinhibition and animosity towards pets were related to the quality of the animal-owner relationship; and that malice and boldness were related to a worse relationship. The details of these studies were published in an article in the journal Journal of Research in Personality.

And what is this for? Analyzing the psychology of the domestic animals we live with will surely be of little use. Knowing the “CAT-Tri+ measurement” of the cats we live with will hardly change the relationship we have with them. However, those responsible for this new model believe that it can be useful in other contexts.

As they explain, the study can help us better understand our cats, beyond an index, by allowing us to identify specific features of their behavior in its multiple dimensions. In animal shelters, this test could also help to better understand some cats, thus making it easier for them to find a home and, in extreme cases, preventing them from being euthanized.

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Image | Visual Pact