Japanese study found that the Maine Coon was very low in aggression and in vivaciousness

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It is quite nice to see what scientists think about the character of the Maine Coon especially in comparison to other breeds. We normally read about breed personality (which is a dubious concept) from the Internet where people simply regurgitate what others have said. Sometimes we hear from cat breeders who know a bit more about cat breed personality. To be honest, it is better to talk about individual cat personality.

MAINE COON
MAINE COON. Image in public domain

In any case, this study took place in 2009 and it's called Behavioural Profiles of Feline Breeds in Japan. They looked at the following breeds: Abyssinian, Russian Blue, Somali, Siamese, "Chinchilla breeds", American Shorthair, Japanese domestic cats (I presume these were non-purebred), Maine Coon, Himalayan (pointed Persian), Persian, Ragdoll and Scottish Fold.

They found differences in behaviour according to their gender, with aggression towards cats, general activity, novelty seeking and excitability being more common in male cats than female cats. They concluded that female cats tended to be more nervous and engaged in inappropriate elimination more commonly when compared to males.

They assessed two feline behavioural traits: aggressiveness/sensitivity and vivaciousness. I take "vivaciousness" to mean liveliness.

They decided that the Maine Coon, Ragdoll and Scottish fold breeds "displayed very low aggressiveness/sensitivity and low vivaciousness".

They also decided that the Abyssinian, Russian Blue, Somali, Siamese and Chinchilla breeds "showed high aggressiveness, sensitivity and low vivaciousness".

And also, that the American Shorthair and Japanese domestic cat displayed low aggressiveness/sensitivity and high vivaciousness.

The Persian and pointed Persian (Himalayan) "showed mild aggressiveness/sensitivity and very low vivaciousness."

The interesting conclusion for me is that the Maine Coon ranked as the least aggressive breed amongst the ones selected and assessed. I think that it is difficult to measure vivaciousness in a cat. And I would expect that these results would have to be read with caution but the source of the assessment is interesting in that they sent out a questionnaire survey to 67 small-animal veterinarians.

The assessments, therefore, as to character and personality come from veterinarians. They are more likely to be objective compared to owners of cats and therefore the results are more reliable than normal I would suggest.

Location: Japan

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