News Finding: It turns out that, yes, a lot of cat behavioral traits are likely heritable through breed.
Paper Finding: Based on our results, the low tendency to seek human contact correlates with low activity level and long hair, whereas in dogs, low levels of attachment is seen in ancient breeds 19 .
News Context: Lastly, Cluster 4, which comprised solely Turkish Van and Angora cats, displayed the most aggression overall. It turns out that, yes, a lot of cat behavioral traits are likely heritable through breed. The highest genetic correlation estimates were largely found among the traits that make up personality factors, like whether or not a cat is shy towards strangers or novel objects and how aggressive they are both to strangers and to their own humans.
Paper Context: Thus, when preferring calm and inactive cats in breeding, Ragdoll breeders may unintentionally favour cats seeking little contact to people. Based on our results, the low tendency to seek human contact correlates with low activity level and long hair, whereas in dogs, low levels of attachment is seen in ancient breeds 19 . The genetic correlation estimates of the Ragdoll breed indicate that the low level of contact in these longhaired cats may be a by-product of selection for low activity level to ease handling (especially brushing).