# Do Black Cats Look Less Adoptable? Human Judgments of Emotions and Adoptability in Online Shelter Photographs in the United States

## TL;DR

Black cats are perceived as less adoptable in online photos, possibly due to difficulty reading their emotions, which could be improved with better photography.

## Contribution

The study identifies difficulty interpreting black cats' emotions in photos as a novel factor affecting their adoption rates.

## Key findings

- Black cats were rated as less adoptable and more often perceived as fearful or angry.
- Participants had lower confidence in interpreting black cats' emotions compared to other coat colors.
- Improving photo quality and focusing on individual personalities could enhance black cats' adoption chances.

## Abstract

Many animal shelters report that black cats are adopted less often and spend more time waiting for homes than cats of other colors. This study explored three possible reasons for this pattern: whether people hold superstitious beliefs about black cats, whether people project attitudes about human skin color onto cats based on their coat color, and whether people have difficulty reading black cats’ emotions in online photographs. Over one thousand adults viewed adoption images of cats from Petfinder, an online, searchable adoption database. Participants rated the cats’ emotions, their confidence in those judgments, and how likely each cat was to be adopted within the next two weeks. Black cats were rated as less likely to be adopted, were more often described as looking fearful or angry, and were harder for people to “read” with confidence. These results suggest that difficulty interpreting facial expressions and body language in photographs of black cats may contribute to lower adoption interest. Improving lighting, contrast, and image clarity, and helping potential adopters focus on each cat’s individual personality, may help black cats find homes more quickly.

Each year, millions of cats enter U.S. animal shelters, where black cats experience lower adoption rates. This study examined whether three factors contribute to this disparity: (1) superstitious beliefs, (2) projected skin-color bias, and (3) difficulty interpreting black cats’ emotions in online photographs sourced from Petfinder, an online searchable, adoption database. A total of 1004 U.S.-based participants completed a 10 min online survey in which they viewed 40 cat adoption advertisement photos: 10 each of black, white, orange tabby, and brown tabby cats. For each image, participants selected one of six basic emotions, rated their confidence, and judged the likelihood that the cat would be adopted within two weeks. Additional items measured superstition and skin-color bias. Black cats were rated as significantly less adoptable than other cats. Participants also attributed negative emotions, such as fear and anger, to black cats more frequently and reported lower confidence when interpreting their emotional expressions. Superstition and skin-color bias, however, did not significantly affect adoptability rating or emotional perception. These findings suggest that difficulty interpreting black cats’ emotional cues in photographs may increase perceptual uncertainty, which in turn influences judgments of adoptability.