Examining personality dimensions in rats using a caregiver questionnaire

Area of Science:

• Ethology
• Animal Behaviour
• Animal Welfare Science

Background:

• Individual behavioural differences (personality) are crucial in ethology, particularly for animal emotion and welfare studies.
• Current behavioural tests for animal personality have limitations.
• Caregiver questionnaires present a complementary method to gain richer insights into animal personality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a caregiver questionnaire for assessing rat personality.
• To identify key personality dimensions in rats using factor analysis.
• To explore relationships between identified personality dimensions and factors like sex, age, and environment.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire was developed where caregivers rated adjectives describing their rats.
• Factor analysis was employed to identify underlying personality dimensions.
• Data from 296 rat caregivers were analyzed to assess personality dimensions and their correlates.

Main Results:

• Six personality dimensions were identified: tameness, shyness, liveliness, interspecific sociability, inquisitiveness, and aggressiveness.
• These dimensions largely align with previous research on non-human animal personality.
• Shyness showed a significant association with rat sex and owner experience, but other dimensions had weak associations with age, sex, companions, predator exposure, or owner experience.

Conclusions:

• Caregiver questionnaires show promise as a valuable tool for assessing rat personality.
• Further research is needed to establish inter-observer agreement and test-retest reliability of these personality ratings.
• This approach can contribute to a deeper understanding of animal behaviour and welfare.