A cat hissing at you with its ears pinned back is a pretty clear “no,” yet new research shows nearly one in four people still miss the message. And many people, even cat owners, still go in for the pet anyway.

A study from the University of Adelaide, published in Frontiers in Ethology, found that most people can’t recognize when cats are stressed, frustrated, or seconds away from lashing out. When the cues were obvious, like the tell-tale hissing, spitting, or aggressive posture, 23 percent of participants misread them. When the signs were less obvious, like tense whiskers or a twitching tail, accuracy dropped to a coin flip. Nearly half of the people who correctly identified an irritated cat still said they’d try to interact with it anyway.

The research team tested 368 adults using vide

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