Cats are Securely Bonded to their People, too
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
"Like dogs, cats display social flexibility in regard to their attachments with humans," said Kristyn Vitale of Oregon State University. "The majority of cats are securely attached to their owner and use them as a source of security in a novel environment."
One revealing way to study human attachment behavior is to observe an infant's response to a reunion with their caregiver following a brief absence in a novel environment. When a caregiver returns, secure infants quickly return to relaxed exploration while insecure individuals engage in excessive clinging or avoidance behavior.
Similar tests had been run before with primates and dogs, so Vitale and her colleagues decided to run the same test, only this time with cats.
During the test, an adult cat or kitten spent two minutes in a novel room with their caregiver followed by two minutes alone. Then, they had a two-minute reunion. The cats' responses to seeing their owners again were classified into attachment styles.
[...] The findings show that cats' human attachments are stable and present in adulthood. This social flexibility may have helped facilitate the success of the species in human homes, Vitale says.
[...] This work was supported through a Nestli(C) Purina sponsorship for studies in cat and dog emotional well-being and by the National Science Foundation.
Journal Reference:Kristyn R. Vitale, Alexandra C. Behnke, Monique A.R. Udell. Attachment bonds between domestic cats and humans. Current Biology, 2019; 29 (18): R864 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.08.036
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