Cats are like women: They like to be stroked the way they *like* to be stroked ... not just any old way. (If you get my drift!) If the researchers were not “friends” in the cats’ mind, or if they were just not stroking them the way the cats like it (and every cat is different!) then I can believe the cats would be stressed. But all of us have seen cats going out of their way to be stroked and petted by the people they’ve chosen for that job! I can’t believe the cats would purposely seek to be stressed. Pretty silly. Bad research, methinks.
Some people will do anything for a CV line.