Grain orientation, BaTiO3 heterogeneous template content, and electrode materials are expected to play an important role in controlling the polarization fatigue behavior of < 001 > textured Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3-PbTiO3 ceramics. A comparative analysis with randomly oriented ceramics showed that < 001 > grain orientation/texture exhibits improved fatigue characteristics due to the reduced switching activation energy and high domain mobility. The hypothesis was validated from the systematic characterization of polarization-electric field behavior and domain wall density. The defect accumulation at the grain boundary and clamping effect arising from the presence of BaTiO3 heterogeneous template in the final microstructure was found to be the main cause for polarization degradation in textured ceramic. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.