🐶What’s Cute?👶🏼

What makes something “cute?"

Soft, rounded features; small, tightly clustered nose and mouth; high forehead and large cheeks; large eyes; short, stubby limbs; physical clumsiness; and inability to reach one’s goals,” are all features that lead us to perceive someone or something as cute.

So, if we think about babies, toddlers, puppies, kittens, and baby Yoda, we start to see a pattern.

They all possess what is described as kindenschema. And the stronger the kindenschema, the cuter the kid, puppy, or robot.

So, the next time you come across an adorable infant, or a cuddly puppy, aside from that warm sweet feeling, you are probably also experiencing shifts in a wide range of goals, attitudes, and ways of perceiving others and the world around you.

It turns out that when we find someone cute, it makes us want to help, protect, and nurture them.

Evolution appears to have programmed us to respond in these ways, likely because it increases the odds that our children will survive and continue to pass on our genes.

In fact, we might think about being cute as a kind of superpower that babies (or puppies) possess — a power that helps them secure protection, food, and other resources from caregivers.

This cuteness response is part of a broader suite of psychological and behavioral tendencies which have been dubbed the parental care system.  This is typically one of the strongest motivations people possess.  It’s stronger than our motivation to avoid infectious disease, gain status, or find new mates.

Beyond driving us to be nurturing and protective toward those we find cute, this system also causes us to avoid taking risks, reduces our trust in strangers, and makes us less interested in seeking out one-night stands.  All of these psychological effects arguably increase the odds that we will invest in children and keep them safe.

So, the next time you come across an adorable infant, or a cuddly puppy, aside from that warm sweet feeling, you are probably also experiencing shifts in a wide range of goals, attitudes, and ways of perceiving others and the world around you.