What’s The Deal With Cuteness?

"Cuteness on the brain

Beyond the “oohs” and “awws”, a lot goes on behind the scenes in the brain.

Research shows that when we come across something considered cute, there’s increased activity in the orbitofrontal cortex in the brain. This region is linked to emotion and a sense of pleasure. In addition, oxytocin is released, a hormone linked to bonding, caretaking and attachment. Pretty much, we fall in love with the said object of cuteness.

Then there’s also the release of dopamine, which makes us feel good and more drawn to the source of that happiness, wanting to care for and preserve it. As a humanity survival tool, this makes sense. We’re basically being rewarded for ensuring the continuity of mankind.

When cute gets aggressive

Do you have that one friend (or perhaps, it’s you) who always has the urge to squeeze, crush or even bite cute things? This is referred to as “cute aggression”, a term first described by researchers at Yale University a few years ago.

This phenomenon is closely associated with dimorphous expression of emotion, when we experience a strong emotion of one type but express its opposite. A prime example is crying tears of joy. Or laughing in uncomfortable situations.

Emotion + Reward = Powerful combo

For some of us, this is simply overwhelming.

However, another theory posits that this mild form of aggression is a hard reset to the brain to balance things out: “snap back to reality, man, you’ve got stuff to do.” Such as feeding the baby instead of making pouty faces all day."

Read the full article on Medium

✨Takeaway: According to research, our brain's orbitofrontal cortex becomes more active when we see something that we find cute. Dopamine is also released, which makes us feel good and more attracted to the cause of our enjoyment, making us desire to protect and keep it.

✨Reflection: What's something you consider soo cute?

#Cute #Psychology #Mind #Self #Self-Awareness #Mood

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