In a study published in the PLOS ONE journal, cats mirror the traits of their humans.
So while cat people have insisted their cat was JUST LIKE THEM — they may actually have been right all along.
The Nottingham Trent University and University of Lincoln researchers who conducted the study found that since humans take on the role of primary caregiver to their pets, the relationship between them seems to be similar the one between parents and children.
So as parents pass on traits to their human babies, it appears they pass them on to their pets as well.
Researchers asked the human participants to self-report their personality traits in the study and then their cats were analyzed.
They discovered that owners who very neurotic tended to have cats that had behavioral issues. While on the opposite end of the spectrum, those who were mentally-adjusted owners had cats that were calmer and healthier.
“More and more we are learning that the welfare of pets is driven by the underlying nature of the owner,” Mark Farnwort, Nottingham Trent University Associate Professor told The Telegraph, “and not simply by their conscious decisions and behaviors.”
Researchers shared how more work is required to further investigate the connection between humans and cats — to which I imagine all cat people said at the exact same time “meow-tastic!”
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