According to the authors of a recent research published in the Journal of Research in Personality, many of us may be unwittingly cohabitating with psychopaths. These adorable housemates of ours may appear cute and cuddly at first look, but they have have a sinister side that can now be quantified according to a recently created feline psychopathy test.
The poll, which is available online and can be finished by any cat owner, evaluates 46 feline traits that can be used to spot a psychopath pet. The triarchic model of psychopathy in humans is based on three features: boldness, meanness, and inhibition. The researchers first asked 549 people about the amounts of these behaviors in their cats to develop the test.
These responses allowed the scientists to identify 40 behavioral patterns, which they then utilized to produce a preliminary 58-item questionnaire on cat psychopathy. The poll was subsequently given to an additional 1,463 cat owners, and the results were examined to make it more accurate.
The final version of the questionnaire, known as the CAT-Tri+ exam, asks about 12 distinct actions that affect a cat’s level of boldness, such whether they torture mice and other prey animals before murdering them. The next 12 questions assess disinhibition, which includes actions like perching on books, computers, and other things that their owners are attempting to use.
The questionnaire then asks about traits like an apparent lack of shame after offending in an effort to gauge meanness. The CAT-Tri+ model of psychopathy also incorporates the two extra characteristics of pet-unfriendliness and human-unfriendliness in addition to these triarchic qualities.
The former includes actions like purring while assaulting people, while the latter includes actions like ejecting other pets from “favorable positions” like beds and sofas.
The authors came to the conclusion that “disinhibition and pet-unfriendliness indicated a better quality cat-owner connection; meanness and boldness suggested a worse quality relationship” after delivering the test and asking owners questions about their interactions with their animals.
The answers to this questionnaire, according to the experts, can help owners better comprehend their dogs and take steps to enhance their wellness. For instance, a cat with a high “boldness” score could benefit from having a huge cat tree and a tall scratching post since the CAT-Tri+ items indicate that a bold cat likes to explore and climb, the authors explain.
They further assert that by identifying potential owners, their test can assist animal shelters in finding homes for cats. A cat with a high “pet-unfriendly” score, for instance, would benefit from being rehomed in a home without any other pets.
The authors emphasize that many of the characteristics involved are present in a wide range of species, despite the fact that the concept of coexisting with a psychotic carnivore may be uncomfortable. Such actions were likely necessary for the survival of the species in the past since they assisted cats’ evolutionary forebears in hunting, mating, and territorial defense. But nowadays, it only causes a lot of things to be pushed off tables.
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