#Reddit smashing four full

Images of baby animals elicited the strongest response according to the study authors, the participants expressed more significant sentiments of cute aggression, feeling overwhelmed, caretaking and so on toward baby animals than adult animals. To assess cute aggression, for instance, the participants were asked to rate the extent to which they agreed with statements like “I want to squeeze something” and “I feel like pinching those cheeks!” They also rated expressions of feeling overwhelmed by the images, of wanting to approach the subjects of the photos, and of wanting to care for the subjects of the photos.

#Reddit smashing four full

The first block of human baby images had been altered to enhance features that we perceive as cuter-like big eyes and full cheeks-while the other was altered to reduce those traits.Īfter they had viewed the images, the participants were asked to fill out questionnaires that measured their responses to the photos, like how cute they found the photo subjects and how much cute aggression they were experiencing. While wearing the caps, the participants were asked to look 32 photographs divided into four blocks: one consisted of images of adult animals (which the study authors classify as “less cute”), one of baby animals (classified as “more cute”), and two of human babies. The researchers recruited 54 participants between the ages of 18 and 40 and fitted them with EEG caps, which use electrodes to measure brain activity. So, as part of an investigation published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, Stavropoulos and her co-author Laura Alba sought to find out how the brain influences our strange response to cute babies and animals. “Cute aggression” was first described in a 2015 study, but most investigations into this phenomenon have been concerned with its behavioral underpinnings, says Katherine Stavropoulos, an assistant professor of special education at the University of California, Riverside and a clinical psychologist with a background in neuroscience. As Jon Hamilton reports for NPR, a recent study may reveal what happens in the brain to fuel this paradoxical response, which scientists refer to as “cute aggression.” You certainly don’t want to hurt the cute creatures-you just want to … squish them.

In the delightful presence of chubby babies, fluffy puppies or other adorable little things, it isn’t uncommon to be overwhelmed by a desire to squeeze, pinch or even bite them.