Cats Mirror the Personalities of Their Owners, According to New Research. Certain personality traits found in cat owners were also present in their feline friends. Alexandra is a former assistant digital editor for MarthaStewart.com.
Feline expert Dr Lauren Finka says: “Many owners consider their pets as a family member, forming close social bonds with them. It's therefore no wonder our pets could be affected by the way we interact with and manage them, and that both these factors are in turn influenced by our personality differences.”
According to a recent study published in PLOS ONE, it was revealed that cats actually mimic their owners' personalities. Cats apparently replicate traits like extroversion, openness, and neuroticism or emotional stability.
In these cases, it seems as if stray cats decide to “adopt” an unsuspecting person as their new caretaker. Basically, these fuzzy interlopers can show up on your doorstep asking for cat food, shelter and attention.
No matter how you define your relationship with your dog, chances are good that over time your personalities mesh. A study from Michigan State University shows dogs mimic owners and model their personality traits. Dogs are more like us than many people realize.
Bonding Occurs Naturally
It's okay when dogs choose a favorite person. In fact, it's natural! As social animals, dogs choose the person or people who give them plenty of love, attention, and positive experiences.
According to science, your furry, feline family member might be more of a copycat than you once thought. As it turns out, these beloved independent creatures have scientifically proven to mimic their owners' personality traits, such as extroversion, openness, and emotional stability.
Cats pick their favorite people for pretty easy-to-empathize-with reasons—they prefer to be around those who understand what they're communicating and make an effort to meet their feline needs.
Cats don't just think of their owners as food machines. They actually see us as parents. A 2019 study revealed that cats have the same attachment to their owners that babies show to their parents. Kittens in the study acted distressed when their caregivers left and happy and secure when they returned.
Cats tend to favor one person over others even if they were well-socialized as kittens. Cats are expert communicators and gravitate towards people that they communicate well with. Look for communication cues from your cat, such as your cat approaching you in search of food or petting.
Cats cannot distinguish their owners by staring at them because their faces appear identical when they are at rest. Instead, cats distinguish between humans using sound and smell. Cats learn to identify their owner's voice, and regardless of whether they're wearing cologne, their skin emits a distinct aroma.
“Cats, like humans, imprint throughout their lives,” Tamburo says. “[Once] properly socialized, cats will often become imprinted on a human, even if they were not together during that early, sensitive period.” Older cats may be more likely to get attached to one person.
Cats are incredibly curious by nature and they always want to know what's going on. It could be just that they're observing you to see if you're going to do anything interesting.
The author writes, “Although a cat may not care (as that word is generally used) about human morals, cats can and do distinguish between good and bad people, and are excellent judges of human character and emotion.
Overall, these studies prove that cats can interpret human emotions, including depression and anxiety, to a certain degree. Your cat will often act in accordance with the visual and auditory cues that you are giving off, such as crying or anxious motion, and they will change their behavior correspondingly.
It appears that cats can sense human moods as well as depression. Cats are observant and intuitive, and this allows them to understand emotional cues from humans. So when you are depressed, they can sense that too. In particular, cats may come in closer proximity when their fur parents are depressed.
Conclusion. Most cats don't understand that kisses from humans are a sign of affection. A cat will surely let you know if they enjoy being kissed or not. The best ways to show your cat that you love them are to give them toys, treats, and plenty of one-on-one time.
Using “baby talk” could effectively grab your cat's attention, a small study finds.
To summarise, cats don't think about their day or how they feel. But they do think about previous situations they have encountered. For example, when your cat is chilling out, it's not thinking about anything in particular.
According to Discovery News' report on research on cat and human behavior, the No. 1 reason a cat likes female humans is because women tend to spend more time with cats. And the more attention they get from a person, the more likely they are to give the same amount of loving right back.
Some people accuse cats of being aloof, but we believe they are just particular about how they show their affection and to whom. In a multi-human household, it seems that cats will choose one family member they want to spend more of their time with.
When cats don't feel threatened by other cats, they will show affection by rubbing on them, sleeping near them, and being in their presence. If your cat replicates those behaviors with you, Delgado says it has officially imprinted on you.
Cats do often treat humans like other felines, using gestures like licking or rubbing on both feline friends and human caregivers, she says. “In a way, cats think of us as bigger cats,” Bonk says. “They might not necessarily know that we're a different species or they just don't care.”
Owner personality is known to influence cat personality, as cats with neurotic owners are more anxious/fearful and aggressive than those with conscientious owners (Finka et al., 2019).
Signs like these should be hard to ignore. Hopefully, you realize that these are obvious signs of a cat's displeasure. Hissing, growling, biting, slashing, or digging their nails into your skin are fairly clear indications that a cat is not happy with you.