The Relationship between Personality Traits Expressed in Dairy Cattle and its Effects on Social Enrichment Response: A Scoping Review
Authors: Xu (Aimee) Xu and Rachel Vliet and Marjo Cellier and Nadège Aigueperse and Abdoulaye Baniré Diallo and Elsa Vasseur
Date: 2026-05-01
Journal: SSRN
Status: Published
The rising demand for food has promoted the usage of intensive systems that often leave animals living in restrained environments. Enrichments have been introduced to improve well-being and allow for natural behaviours, yet they frequently lack customization for individual needs. Understanding individual differences in behaviour that are consistent over time and contexts, commonly referred to as personalities, may enhance enrichment efficacy and animal welfare. This scoping review examines the role of social enrichment in dairy cows, exploring how personality traits influence responses to these interventions. Following PRISMA guidelines, a multi-step screening process identified 34 primary research papers. This review explores behavioural variables, the types of social enrichment used, and their connections to personality, aiming to uncover practical insights for management practices and welfare improvement. Findings reveal that most studies lacked clear frameworks for defining personality dimensions. This is likely due to the complex interconnections between personality traits and the behavioural variables associated with them. Although much of the existing literature focuses on how enrichment affects animal behaviour, few studies have examined how inherent personality traits might shape individual responses to enrichment interventions. This gap limits the ability to determine whether observed behavioural outcomes are truly reflective of underlying personality, or primarily responses to environmental stimuli. To address these issues, this review proposed practical frameworks based on observed behavioural variables and their potential links to personality traits. While the Five-Factor Model (FFM), adapted from human psychology, offers a useful structure, the frameworks remain flexible to accommodate other theoretical models used in animal personality research. Future research should focus on developing validated, consistent behavioural tests that reliably assess personality traits in dairy cattle.