Some cats display a complex mixture of fear and curiosity, which is similar to shyness observed in human infants, according to a study publishing November 4, 2026, in the open access journal PLOS One by Madoka Hattori at Kyoto University, Japan, and colleagues.
In humans, shyness is a complex personality trait that causes restraint, avoidance of social interactions and anxiety. Shy infants often display conflicting desires. For example, when they encounter an unfamiliar adult, they may want to approach but are also fearful to do so. Studies of personality traits in animals often don't differentiate between shyness and fear, instead measuring behavior on a scale from fearful to bold. As a result, whether the type of shyness observed in human infants — characterized by fear and a desire to approach unfamiliar objects or people — occurs in other animals, is unknown.
To address this knowledge gap, researchers investigated fear and approach behavior in 310 domestic cats (Felis catus). Cat owners were asked to complete an online survey adapted from a questionnaire used to evaluate personality in human infants. The researchers analyzed their answers and scored each cat's shyness, fearfulness and tendency to approach new people or toys.
Overall, they found a strong positive correlation between shyness and fear. Further analysis revealed four main personality types: highly sociable, sociable, fearful and shy. Cats categorized as 'highly sociable' and 'sociable' both had low fear scores and high or moderate approach scores, respectively. The reverse was true for fearful cats, which had high fear scores and low approach scores. In the fourth category, cats had high fear scores and high approach scores, mirroring the type of shyness observed in some human infants. They found that this human-like shyness was more common in male cats and cats that were born stray.
The findings indicate that in most cats, shyness is closely linked to fear. However, a subset of cats display a mixture of high fear and a tendency to approach unfamiliar people and objects, which is also characteristic of shyness in human infants. This suggests that complex personality traits can exist in non-human animals. A deeper understanding of personality traits in cats could help pet owners and animal shelters better accommodate different cats' needs and improve their welfare, the authors say.
The authors add: "Our findings suggest that shyness in cats is more complex than simply being afraid of humans, with cats showing diverse patterns of social behavior. Rather than simply labeling cats as 'friendly' or 'timid,' we hope our research will encourage cat owners to observe and better understand each cat's individual behavior."
In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One: https://plos.io/4ickTVN
Citation: 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. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360035
Author countries: Japan.
Funding: This study was financially supported by JST SPRING (JPMJSP2110 to M.H.), JSFM Japanese Society of Feline Medicine (JSFM to M.H.), JSPS KAKENHI (24h02200 to S.Y.), and JST FOREST (JPMJFR221I to S.Y.).
