ABSTRACT Gaining knowledge about the diverse correlates of human–pet attachment will help us better understand the nature of this bond. Previous research found that the personality dimensions of neuroticism and conscientiousness positively predicted human attachment to multiple types of pets. To address a literature gap, the current study focused on people’s attachments to cats. We had two primary goals: first, to replicate earlier findings of associations between neuroticism, conscientiousness, and three attachment variables: attachment anxiety (one’s sense of worthiness of love), attachment avoidance (one’s sense of trustworthiness of the attachment figure), and general attachment to a pet; and second, we assessed how neuroticism facets (anger, anxiety, depression, immoderation, self-consciousness, vulnerability) are individually related to attachment to cats. Participants (n = 1,239) completed an online survey including the Pet Attachment Questionnaire, the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale, and items from the International Personality Item Pool and the Big Five Inventory. Neuroticism, conscientiousness, and facet level anxiety were negative predictors of attachment avoidance and positive predictors of general attachment. Attachment anxiety toward cats was moderately associated with all neuroticism facets. From these results, incorporating findings from past research on human relationships, we compared associations between neuroticism facets and attachment for three different types of relationships: romantic, friendship, and human–cat. Associations between neuroticism facets and the view of one’s worthiness of love (attachment anxiety) were similar across the different relationship types, but the association between neuroticism facets and attachment avoidance depended on the type of relationship (romantic, friendship, or human–cat). Conscientiousness may be a helpful trait in pet owners. Future research could investigate relations between measures of attachment and actual behavior toward pet cats and between neuroticism facets and attachment to other pets, such as dogs.

中文翻译：

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神经质方面、责任心和人类对宠物猫的依恋之间的关系

摘要了解人类与宠物依恋的各种相关性将有助于我们更好地理解这种联系的本质。先前的研究发现，神经质和尽责性的人格维度积极预测了人类对多种宠物的依恋。为了解决文献空白，当前的研究集中在人们对猫的依恋上。我们有两个主要目标：首先，复制神经质、尽责性和三个依恋变量之间关联的早期发现：依恋焦虑（一个人对爱的价值感）、依恋回避（一个人对依恋对象的信任感）和一般对宠物的依恋；其次，我们评估了神经质的各个方面（愤怒、焦虑、抑郁、无节制、自我意识、脆弱性）分别与对猫的依恋有关。参与者 (n = 1,239) 完成了一项在线调查，包括宠物依恋问卷、列克星敦宠物依恋量表以及来自国际人格项目库和大五人格清单的项目。神经质、责任心和层面焦虑是依恋回避的负面预测因素和一般依恋的正面预测因素。对猫的依恋焦虑与所有神经质方面都有中度相关。根据这些结果，结合过去对人际关系的研究结果，我们比较了三种不同类型关系的神经质方面和依恋之间的关联：浪漫、友谊和人猫。神经质方面与爱的价值（依恋焦虑）之间的关联在不同的关系类型中是相似的，但神经质方面与依恋回避之间的关联取决于关系的类型（浪漫、友谊或人-猫）。尽责可能是宠物主人的一个有用特征。未来的研究可以调查依恋测量与对宠物猫的实际行为之间的关系，以及神经质方面与对其他宠物（如狗）的依恋之间的关系。