Why a shy cat may still approach you: new PLOS ONE research

A cat may be afraid of an unfamiliar person and still want to approach. A study by Madoka Hattori, Atsuko Saito and Shinya Yamamoto, published in PLOS ONE on 4 November 2026, explores this apparent contradiction. Its findings offer a more nuanced way to discuss feline temperament, rather than a diagnostic personality test for every cat.

What the researchers measured

The team conducted three sequential owner surveys: 82 cats of both sexes in the first study, 114 male cats in the second, and 114 stray-born male cats in the third. Adapted questionnaires originally used in infant temperament research assessed shyness, fear and the tendency to approach unfamiliar people or objects.

The evidence comes from owner reports, rather than one standard laboratory behaviour test administered to every animal. The composition of each sample matters: findings in stray-born males cannot simply be generalised to all pedigree cats.

Four candidate patterns of fear and approach

Exploratory cluster analysis suggested four candidate profiles in stray-born male cats:

• Highly sociable: low fear and high approach scores.
• Sociable: low fear and moderate approach scores.
• Fearful: high fear and low approach scores.
• Fearful yet interested: high scores on both measures, a combination the authors compared with human infant-like shyness.

The main hypothesis was not supported

The predicted quadratic relationship between shyness and approach scores was not statistically significant. The four candidate profiles emerged from subsequent exploratory analysis. Describing this as proof that every cat belongs to one of exactly four fixed personality types would overstate the evidence.

The comparison with infants concerns a pattern of fear and approach tendencies. It does not establish that cats experience the same psychological state as human children.

What breeders can take from the findings

WCA editorial interpretation: describe observable behaviour when introducing a kitten to a prospective owner. Does the kitten approach voluntarily, retreat when someone moves, return to play, or respond differently in a familiar setting? These observations communicate more than a simple label such as “friendly” or “timid”.

Behaviour notes can help explain an individual animal’s habits. They do not replace health assessment, establish breeding eligibility or create a new WCA rule. This paper does not justify predicting temperament from breed, coat colour or a pedigree.

Quick questions

Does approaching a person mean a cat is no longer afraid?

Not necessarily. In this study, a tendency to approach could coexist with high fear scores.

Does the paper validate a one-meeting kitten temperament test?

No. It does not establish that one encounter can reliably determine an individual kitten’s lasting temperament.

For registration information, visit WCA online services, the cattery registry and the pedigree check. A registry entry confirms registration; it does not certify temperament or health.

Primary source

Hattori M, Saito A, Yamamoto S (2026). Exploration of complex shyness and the relationship between fear and approach behaviors in domestic cats (Felis catus). PLOS ONE 21(11): e0360035. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0360035. Editorial analysis by World Cat Association, 5 November 2026.

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