Personality

Temperament in domestic cats: A review of proximate mechanisms, methods of assessment, its effects on human—cat relationships, and one welfare

Temperament can be defined as interindividual differences in behavior that are stable over time and in different contexts. The terms ‘personality’, ‘coping styles’, and ‘behavioral syndromes’ have also been used to describe these interindividual differences. In this review, the main...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Human-Animal Interaction, Personality, Relocation & TransportAnimal Type: Cat

Citation: de Castro Travnik, I., de Souza Machado, D., de Silva Gonçalves, L. et al. 2020. Temperament in domestic cats: A review of proximate mechanisms, methods of assessment, its effects on human—cat relationships, and one welfare. Animals 10(9), 1516.

Long-term consistency of personality traits of cattle

Personality is often defined as the behaviour of individual animals that is consistent across contexts and over time. Personality traits may become unstable during stages of ontogeny from infancy to adulthood, especially during major periods of development such as around...

Year Published: 2020Topics: PersonalityAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Neave, H. W., Costa, J. H. C., Weary, D. M. 2020. Long-term consistency of personality traits of cattle. Royal Society Open Science 7(2), 7191849.

Personality traits modulate stress responses after enclosure change of captive capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus)

Husbandry procedures may cause behavioral and physiological changes to animals living in captivity. However, an individual’s reaction is not uniform and may be related to different coping strategies. In this study, we analyzed whether and how 12 adult captive capuchin...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Husbandry & Management, PersonalityAnimal Type: Capuchin, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Bessa Ferreira, V. H., De Paiva Fonseca, E., Chagas, Correia Santos Das, A. C. et al. 2020. Personality traits modulate stress responses after enclosure change of captive capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 232, 105111.

Personality matters – The interplay between consistent individual differences and mouse welfare in female C57BL6/J mice

To ensure good welfare of animals in human hands, it is essential to modify housing conditions according to the animals’ needs. Traditionally, the effects of such modifications are studied by means of group-level comparisons, thereby widely neglecting consistent inter-individual differences...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Housing, PersonalityAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Sroka, M. G. U., Ambree, O., Dohmen, C. et al. 2024. Personality matters – The interplay between consistent individual differences and mouse welfare in female C57BL6/J mice. Frontiers in Animal Science 5, 1423814.

Exploring the induction and measurement of positive affective state in equines through a personality-centred lens (2025)

There is increasing focus on how to induce and measure positive affective states in animals and the development of social license to operate has brought this to the forefront within equestrianism. This study aimed to utilise a range of methods...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Personality, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Loftus, L., Newman, A., Leach, M. et al. 2025. Exploring the induction and measurement of positive affective state in equines through a personality-centred lens. Scientific Reports 15(1), 18550.

Personality traits of the territorial crustacean Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis): Behavioral adaptations to environmental cues (2025)

Territorial crustaceans exhibit a complex set of personality traits and behavioral characteristics that are critical for their survival, growth, and overall welfare. This study aimed to systematically investigate the interplay between two essential personality traits—boldness and aggression—in Chinese mitten crabs...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Personality, Stocking DensityAnimal Type: Crustacean, Invertebrate

Citation: Fang, P., Sheng, S., Li, Y. et al. 2025. Personality traits of the territorial crustacean Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis): Behavioral adaptations to environmental cues. Animals 15(5), 757.

Personality dimensions in the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris)

Understanding the origin, universality, and maintenance of among-individual variation in behaviour is a current focus of behavioural ecology and comparative psychology. Research on animal personality emphasising the central role of the individual contributes to conservation efforts and animal welfare by...

Year Published: 2024Topics: PersonalityAnimal Type: Cephalopod, Invertebrate

Citation: Mazza, V., Pacchiarotti, G., Strinati, C. et al. 2024. Personality dimensions in the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris). Behaviour 161(13–15), 913–948.

Are lateralized and bold fish optimistic or pessimistic?

Cognitive bias is defined as the influence of emotions on cognitive processes. The concept of the cognitive judgement bias has its origins in human psychology but has been applied to animals over the past 2 decades. In this study we...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, PersonalityAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish

Citation: Berlinghieri, F., Rizzuto, G., Kruizinga, L. et al. 2024. Are lateralized and bold fish optimistic or pessimistic? Animal Cognition 27(1), 42.

More exploratory house mice judge an ambiguous situation more negatively

Exploration tendency, one of the most investigated animal personality traits, may be driven by either positive (when seeking interesting information) or negative (to reduce the uncertainty of the environment) affective/emotional profiles. To disentangle the valence of the affective state associated...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, PersonalityAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Verjat, A., Devienne, P., Rödel, H. G. et al. 2021. More exploratory house mice judge an ambiguous situation more negatively. Animal Cognition 24(1), 53–64.

Knowledge of lateralized brain function can contribute to animal welfare

The specialized functions of each hemisphere of the vertebrate brain are summarized together with the current evidence of lateralized behavior in farm and companion animals, as shown by the eye or ear used to attend and respond to stimuli. Forelimb...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Personality, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: Rogers, L. J. 2023. Knowledge of lateralized brain function can contribute to animal welfare. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10.