We find different things cute- babies, kittens, puppies, hamsters- but I’m sure we’ve all experienced the “I need to pinch it!” phenomenon. When we see things that are extremely cute, we feel an impulse to squeeze it, bite it, somewhat destroy it. And I’m sure we’ve blurted the common phrases like “She’s so cute I want to eat her!” and “Gaah It’s so fluffy I could just squeeze it to death!”, but have we ever considered that these emotions we feel are actually quite demented? Is it human nature to want to hurt cute things that please us? Apparently I’m not the only one to feel these emotions when watching a kitten roll about in it’s sleep, because Google seemed to have some answers for me.
Let’s just take a moment here for Google and it’s wonderful knowledge.
*Takes a moment*
Anyway, people were shown cute, funny and neutral pictures of typically ‘adorable’ animals and were asked to describe their emotions towards the images. What was discovered was that the cuter the animal, the more aggressive the person was; with reactions like clenching fits and “I- I just can’t!”
The conclusion was that seeing cute things creates a sense of loss of control in humans, driving us crazy. Cuteness is ‘such a good thing’ that we just don’t know how to deal with it, so choose to react negatively to release the high levels of energy, much like crying when overcome with an overwhelming amount of happiness.
So, next time you see something cute, and feel the urge to squeeze the life out of it, comfort yourself with the knowledge that it’s perfectly normal and you are not psychotic.
Just, you know, don’t… don’t actually do it. Yeah.
-The Cookie Element
Links: http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-01/science-says-adorable-animals-turn-us-aggressive
The cookie element 