tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/kawaii-4006/articlesKawaii – The Conversation2024-02-05T17:23:04Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2222292024-02-05T17:23:04Z2024-02-05T17:23:04ZWhat makes something ‘cute’? Inside the exhibition defining the phenomenon<p>Standing at the entrance to Somerset House, I noticed <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/368549">girls</a> – and irrespective of age, they can only be described as <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1363460717736719?casa_token=0P-RD37lxjsAAAAA%3AS55azMh3qGwHzmyG305duhZYV_YKsmKalL8ASl3qVf702XGPDrKHgEncKcBShyA0ly5ii370zvPuYg">girls</a> – dressed head to toe in pink, bows and frills, from their elaborately curled hair to their Mary Jane platform heels. </p>
<p>Glittering and adorned with stickers, <a href="https://doi.org/10.21159/nvjs.12.05">cute plasters</a> and whimsical jewellery, they, like this exhibition, stand out in the late-January weather. Beacons of colour in a sea of wintery greys and blacks. What are they here for? It can only be the gallery’s new exhibition on <a href="https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/cute">Cute</a> – the first large-scale exhibition to examine the phenomenon.</p>
<p>The exhibition starts by exploring “cute” as a historic appreciation of cats. It draws a connection from <a href="https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/person/104XHB">Victorian cat portraiture</a> and <a href="https://andyholdenartist.com/hermione">collectable porcelain figurines</a> to the Japanese Hello Kitty. The exhibition celebrates the brand’s 50th birthday through a glittering kitty disco. </p>
<p>Jumping through time and geopolitical boundaries, the show demonstrates that “cute” cannot be bound to a single time or place but is an accessible concept that can be claimed by anyone. Appearing in its modern context through Japanese products of the early 20th century known as “fancy goods” for young women, it goes on to encompass diverse cultural products, from <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/7/3/24">comics</a> to computers, appliances to televisions, colonising even the screen itself as an <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1367877916674741?casa_token=NGqBsExImOwAAAAA%3AcxVQvvNJ4IF6g-_lqcW_lYIKDQhgnqCvibZ_-OlOkM8z3hU8C279H2Gff0YmV6_OuRaZxK3NO4Qm_Q">aesthetic</a> in <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/23/article/845498/summary?casa_token=XheY2yytZKAAAAAA:QDsR1YeMLNj5Q5_DVbPCs80Ch6ToVLuTua8Af5TDo9jNNrVBe_1G_T0Da-svWbjQniluXRbJTS0">music videos</a> of the 1980s and 1990s. </p>
<p>The Hello Kitty section of the exhibition is a universe of plushies and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/135918350000500205?casa_token=JH77fxBp6BQAAAAA:OLqETMB27HC8BYV_jbTkreO9EUww1NjWkLcJETX9Cf0w2MMgq1TaXbh3ouOnDoNYX2KBnvFUWtB44g">“Kitty mania”</a> in all kinds of products, from shoes and suitcases to tablets and karaoke machines. This encapsulates the most obvious secondary function of cute – <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/41/2/326/2907555">intense consumerism</a>, and its ability to sell objects of all kinds.</p>
<h2>Cute is a slippery word</h2>
<p>Moving upwards, visitors enter the “cute universe”. Here “cuteness” fragments and distorts into many shapes and meanings. </p>
<p>Playing on the word “slipperiness”, which is invoked several times in the <a href="https://www.somersethouseshop.com/products/cute-exhibition-catalogue">catalogue</a>, the exhibition’s efforts to put cute into distinct categories wrestles with its fluid qualities, which clamour for attention among the many objects on display. </p>
<p>The show is divided into sections – <a href="https://www.cute.guide/CB">“cry baby”</a>,<a href="https://www.cute.guide/PT">“play together”</a>, <a href="https://www.cute.guide/SCP">“sugar-coated pill”</a>, <a href="https://www.cute.guide/MO">“monstrous other”</a> and <a href="https://www.cute.guide/HS">“hypersonic”</a> – which all valiantly attempt to define “cute”. But the word resists definition. Objects of all kinds harness the differing qualities of cute to <a href="https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/eapc.2.1.49_1">incite emotions</a> – of sympathy, tenderness, love and desire. Though which emotions an object evokes vary, depending on the viewer. </p>
<p>The “cute universe” offers a deeper look at the concept through displays on community, how cute can disguise agendas, the juxtaposition of cute and horror and the glistening promise of cute as a future lifestyle aesthetic. The exploration reveals “cute” to be impossible to pin down. Neither good nor bad, it <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09502386.2012.738640?casa_token=6RE5gyzPQx4AAAAA%3AeKg-sDlxCI8qyOb0HSVC4JahEIxRod9fZ2LJ-Ne5KDcDitvkFv_-InpW4r08u1uxcgVtg01Dn7-0aA">is a tool</a> to be used, felt and interpreted, dependent on the viewer and performer in a codependent relationship of ambiguity. </p>
<h2>Playing with scale</h2>
<p>The exhibition also plays with <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/90011648?casa_token=M4jXLh8pgEEAAAAA%3AIXDKAMjguiRNoGO7fHa7q_ZHqg4l49jr0f0TdOvLVOdtj9edOjnm7zSqMdJTB0rcA4DbBXi7wZxFCi0EFdchcrCUYlqFnGRbC9K7Bq6s-YYYOsWt3zw7&seq=4">scale</a>, with both oversized and undersized installations. This makes visitors feel they’ve become children once again, playing with tiny toys or experiencing an oversized world. </p>
<p>The immersive experience continues with hyper-feminine singer and visual artist, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/sep/29/to-be-a-girl-is-to-always-be-performing-hannah-diamond-on-pink-punk-and-making-the-pop-album-of-the-year">Hannah Diamond’s</a> creations, which evoke girly pyjama parties and pink beanbags, staying up too late and watching music videos on TV.</p>
<p>These works are nostalgic, a retrospective longing for a time that has already passed. Within cute is a performance of desire, filling in the gap between what we have and what we have <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/004262f802bdec094b52706dea45c89a/1?cbl=1818460&pq-origsite=gscholar">lost</a>. The performance of cuteness can only take place in the presence of loss of innocence.</p>
<p>So what to think of this exhibition of cute? As the curator Claire Catterall told me, the show hints rather than dictates its meaning. Yet, in the end, the bigger questions remain: what is cute doing to society? What does it mean that we are so complicit in its manipulation? Who are the players in cute, and who gets to decide? </p>
<p>Ultimately, the exhibition leaves us to decide for ourselves, but how can we when the concept itself is so slippery? I left Somerset House, disoriented and fizzing, as if I had consumed too many sweets. And yet, as I thought about the exhibition on my journey home, I craved a second helping.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hui-Ying Kerr received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council for her Doctorate in History of Design on Japanese
culture in the 1980s economic bubble.</span></em></p>The show is divided into sections which all valiantly attempt to define “cute”. But the word is resistant to definition.Hui-Ying Kerr, Associate Lecturer, Fashion Communication and Promotion, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/671872016-11-23T08:14:31Z2016-11-23T08:14:31ZWhat is kawaii – and why did the world fall for the ‘cult of cute’?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146641/original/image-20161118-19361-x61hs5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Musubizm at J Pop Summit; a masterclass in cute</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flickr.com/photos/48015809@N00/19853813364">youngelectricpop via Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This is a true story. One Saturday night, I was sitting with a friend in a trendy downtown bar, when two grown women casually strolled past in ruffled dresses, bonnets and parasols, wheeling matching baby carriages. Out of these peeked little poodles wearing complementary pastel baby clothes. We were of course in Japan, but still, what on earth was going on?</p>
<p>Yes, I had once again been confronted by the strange, fascinating world of “<em>kawaii</em>”, or cute culture. Visits to Japanese cities reverberating with squeals of “<em>Kawaaaiiiiiii</em>!!!” may make this fad easy to dismiss as just another exoticism of the East. Yet the presence of costumed adults lining up for London’s own <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3884818/A-host-Harley-Quinns-pack-Jokers-Chewbacca-Thousands-gamers-sci-fi-fans-movie-buffs-descend-London-s-Comic-Con.html">Comic-Con</a>, a <a href="http://www.swarovski.com/Web_GB/en/5174647/product/Hello_Kitty,_Limited_Edition_2016.html">Swarovski-encrusted Hello Kitty</a> worth thousands of pounds, and the profiling of Lolita fashion in <a href="http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/inside-the-magical-world-of-lolitas">magazine articles</a> and <a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/j/japanese-street-style/">V&A exhibits</a>, show that cute culture is not just spreading beyond Asia, but it’s here to stay. And it means business.</p>
<p>So, what is <em>kawaii</em> and why here and why now? As the Japanese word for cute, <em>kawaii</em> has connotations of shyness, embarrassment, vulnerability, darlingness and lovability. Think babies and small fluffy creatures. In many cases, it is a signifier for innocence, youth, charm, openness and naturalness, while its darker aspects have led it to be rather brutally applied to frailty and even physical handicap as a marker of adorability. You may not have noticed, but look carefully and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/top-cat-how-hello-kitty-conquered-the-world-831522.html">Hello Kitty has no mouth</a>.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146578/original/image-20161118-19348-j7j7gi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146578/original/image-20161118-19348-j7j7gi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146578/original/image-20161118-19348-j7j7gi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146578/original/image-20161118-19348-j7j7gi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146578/original/image-20161118-19348-j7j7gi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146578/original/image-20161118-19348-j7j7gi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146578/original/image-20161118-19348-j7j7gi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Hello Kitty: mouthless, voiceless.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-221131861/stock-photo-zagreb-croatia-october-1st-2014-hello-kitty-children-cartoon-character-printed-on-box-product-shot.html?src=0fl_7OZHiQur15o0AAwcGw-1-16">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>As <em>kawaii</em> suggests, cute culture first originated in Japan, emerging out of the student protests of the <a href="http://apjjf.org/2015/13/11/Oguma-Eiji/4300.html">late-1960s</a>. Rebelling against authority, Japanese university students refused to go to lectures, reading children’s comics (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga"><em>manga</em></a>) in protest against prescribed academic knowledge. </p>
<p>As the economy progressed through the 1970s and 1980s, so did consumer subcultures – and cute as a style began to be expressed through childish handwriting, speech, dress, products, shops, cafes and food. Meanwhile, as Japanese women became more visible at work, so the “<em>burikko</em>” or childlike woman emerged, portraying an innocence and adorability that alleviated the threat of female emancipation, increasing her appeal as a potential marriage partner. </p>
<h2>The Lost Decade</h2>
<p>By the 1990s, Japan’s period of economic crisis was well underway, and many Japanese subcultures fled into the international market. <a href="https://www.cardpartner.com/cobrand/app/hello-kitty">Banks</a> and <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2751742/Making-fur-fly-Taiwanese-Hello-Kitty-plane-makes-Paris-debut-honour-cute-cartoon-character-s-40th-birthday.html">commercial airlines</a> began to explore cute as a strategy to increase their appeal, and cultural forms followed in the footsteps of the once invincible Japanese corporate machine, spreading the soft power of Japanese modernity. </p>
<p>Where Nissan, Mitsubishi, Sony and Nintendo had carved a path, so trod Japanese anime, film and music. The 1990s also saw the refreshing of the ultimate <em>kawaii</em> brand, Hello Kitty, expanded to include products aimed at teens and adults rather than pre-adolescent girls. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146580/original/image-20161118-19345-1n9ro3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146580/original/image-20161118-19345-1n9ro3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146580/original/image-20161118-19345-1n9ro3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146580/original/image-20161118-19345-1n9ro3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146580/original/image-20161118-19345-1n9ro3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146580/original/image-20161118-19345-1n9ro3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146580/original/image-20161118-19345-1n9ro3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146580/original/image-20161118-19345-1n9ro3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Eva Air: taking to the skies with Hello Kitty.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/129575161@N05/18391149750/in/photolist-4F5u3s-4F5tYQ-bdFnRr-bdFp1H-4F5u1y-eFaemy-eF47yk-bdFmCH-7nywno-bdEXeV-bdEVZV-7nyxx1-dRxQD2-7nyxTW-bdEUDV-7nuASp-bdES26-bdEYBV-bdFqce-7nyvfd-dQivrK-7nyA9S-dRDoB3-7nuDwT-7nyyGL-7nuA8H-bdETmF-AqkUUC-bnZaZZ-dQp7mj-u2as5N-7nyzKJ-7nuy2R-bnZh5H-oXLgPF-7nyuyf-7nysuw-7nuz5R-7nuBeX-7nyxaf-7nyudh-7nyz47-peSyEA-7nyzoq-7nywLY-CSDGZp-CQoa6C-N7py3E-Loq73T-Loq6GT">Masakatsu Ukon via Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>As part of the 1990s wider spread of Japanese culture, <em>kawaii</em> is undoubtedly indebted. However, its persistence well into the 21st century shows that something else is now afoot. Cute culture is everywhere and claimed by everyone, regardless of age, gender and nationality. More than the fuzzy dice hanging from the rear-view mirror, it is the collectable branded official merchandise of cartoons and comics, the endless animations and <a href="http://marvel.com/movies/all">superhero films</a>, the doll-like dresses of <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/fandom/lolita-brolita-japanese-fashion-culture-guide/">“Lolita” fashion</a> and the phone-clutching clusters of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/12/pokemon-go-becomes-global-phenomenon-as-number-of-us-users-overtakes-twitter">Pokemon Go</a> players. </p>
<p>Importantly, it does not seem to rely on Japan, but has become homegrown in multiple locations, with global participants consuming and contributing in equal measure. At first glance, it appears these childlike adults, like the proverbial Peter Pan, don’t want to grow up – but how convenient for business that they can whip consumers into a frenzy, reducing grown men and women into childish, irrational desire. Cute culture is capitalism disguised, repackaged and covered in glitter.</p>
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<span class="caption">Pokemon Go, on the road.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-452113801/stock-photo-california-united-state-july-2016-hand-holding-a-cellphone-playing-pokemon-go-game-while-driving-indicating-dangerous.html?src=kaMLdGNEHhDTdWsw_XvAmA-1-11">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>A force for good?</h2>
<p>Looking at the adult landscape, with its pressures of debt, competition and responsibility, it is no wonder that people want to escape into the infinite time, space and promise of childhood. Cute becomes a way of resisting the adult world. It’s not just a means of escape and denial, but also a way to fight back against the curtailment of possibility. Japanese women used cute culture as a denial of female sexuality and all the subjugation it implied. Meanwhile in the West, cute becomes a foil for millennials against the diminishing of privileges that mark the end of the late-20th century as a Golden Age.</p>
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<p>So, is cute culture good or bad? Perhaps both and neither. A legitimate subcultural form and a soporific soother, it is a form of resistance and a capitalist pacification. Symptom and cure, it is ultimate allowance and refusal. Childhood means the luxury of not growing up, but also denial of adulthood and the refusal of responsibility. But while <em>kawaii</em> may seem like a closing of one door, held in its small furled fist is a key that opens another. To be simultaneously adult and child means to straddle both worlds, a symbol of resistance and boundless possibility.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67187/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hui-Ying Kerr received funding from the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) from 2010 - 2013 as part of her PhD research on Japan in the 1980s. </span></em></p>From Hello Kitty and ‘Lolita’ fashion to Pokemon Go, millions of adults are seeking an endless childhood.Hui-Ying Kerr, Senior Lecturer in Product Design, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/168842013-09-09T20:42:10Z2013-09-09T20:42:10ZExplainer: what is cute aggression?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30671/original/mt5q8w34-1378272275.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Don't you just want to hug him to death?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Antoinette vd Rieth</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humans respond to cute. Show us just about any little critter with a big round head and a pair of large, blinking-in-the-headlights eyes and cooing will ensue.</p>
<p>Add to that a set of chubby cheeks, a button nose and teeny-tiny pursed lips and you’re almost guaranteed to elicit clucking from the average adult.</p>
<p>The features of cuteness have been painstakingly mapped out and collectively are known as “kindenschema”, “<a href="https://theconversation.com/cute-cats-puppies-piglets-online-kawaii-they-help-you-concentrate-9929">kawaii</a>”, or the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3260535/">baby schema</a>. Their appeal is near universal, applying across geographical, cultural, and even species boundaries. </p>
<p>The enormous eyes and button noses of Japanese manga characters provide one of the most obvious examples of kawaii preferences manifesting in popular culture - as shown below.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29994/original/48j5qg6h-1377581465.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29994/original/48j5qg6h-1377581465.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29994/original/48j5qg6h-1377581465.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29994/original/48j5qg6h-1377581465.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29994/original/48j5qg6h-1377581465.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29994/original/48j5qg6h-1377581465.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29994/original/48j5qg6h-1377581465.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29994/original/48j5qg6h-1377581465.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">twicepix</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other manifestations are slightly more bizarre. The physical appearance of many domestic dogs, for example, is one consequence of our preference for the composite features of cuteness. </p>
<p>We humans have selectively bred youthful or <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/26/science-of-cute_n_2171987.html">pedomorphic characteristics</a> into our canine companions to the point that the average adult Labrador looks far younger than a wolf of the same age.</p>
<p>Within human-to-human interactions, the consequences of baby schema preferences are significant. </p>
<p>A baby’s cuteness is linked to the caregiving behaviour shown towards it. Specifically, adults are inclined to perceive an infant with exaggerated baby schema characteristics as being more desirable than those with less exaggerated features and are likely to pay more attention to such a child.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30008/original/x434s5sj-1377583642.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30008/original/x434s5sj-1377583642.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30008/original/x434s5sj-1377583642.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=656&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30008/original/x434s5sj-1377583642.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=656&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30008/original/x434s5sj-1377583642.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=656&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30008/original/x434s5sj-1377583642.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=824&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30008/original/x434s5sj-1377583642.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=824&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30008/original/x434s5sj-1377583642.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=824&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nicora Family</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are, of course, sex differences. While adult humans are equal in their abilities to discriminate the age and facial expressions of babies, research suggests <a href="http://www.zora.uzh.ch/31308/">only adult females</a> are reliably able to discriminate between levels of cuteness.</p>
<p>Curiously enough, the cuteness quotient also has an impact in the opposite direction. Upon exposure to images of cuteness adult humans not only report feeling happier, but also <a href="https://theconversation.com/cute-cats-puppies-piglets-online-kawaii-they-help-you-concentrate-9929">show improvement</a> in tasks involving fine motor control, improved attention span, and even increased levels of productivity.</p>
<h2>Cute aggression</h2>
<p>With all that in mind, <a href="http://www.livescience.com/26452-why-we-go-crazy-for-cuteness.html">a recent finding</a> linking cuteness to a behaviour most commonly associated with negative societal outcomes – that of aggression – seems on first pass contradictory. </p>
<p>A team from Yale University reported that viewing images of critters high in baby schema characteristics inspires what appears to be observer aggression. </p>
<p>Specifically, observers were more likely to report wanting to say “grr” and squeeze the cutest of a range of different critters to which they were exposed. They were more also likely to pop bubble wrap - an indicator of aggression - when looking at them.</p>
<p>Despite its initial apparent contradiction with care-giving behaviours, this link to aggression has at least some intuitive appeal. Many of us have experienced the desire to almost literally squeeze the life out of something adorable, even if only as children. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jPdHaNr0OAY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">“… and hug him and squeeeeze him …”</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Those childhood desires to squeeze a kitten tightly and pluck the eyes off a teddy bear are reflected in adult language: “you’re so cute I want to eat you all up.”</p>
<p>So why might cuteness elicit a combination of care-giving and aggression? </p>
<p>The Yale researchers suggest that aggressive tendencies manifesting in response to cuteness are a type of distorted outcome of the intense emotions elicited by cute things. </p>
<p>They speculate that frustration at not being able to satisfy the intense desire to care for the viewed object results in a type of violent response – a form of care-giving instinct gone feral.</p>
<p>Aggression and care-giving are both linked to neural processes mediating social behaviours. Baby schema activates the so-called <a href="http://www.acnp.org/g4/gn401000025/ch025.html">mesocorticolimbic</a>, or reward system. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30007/original/kph6km6v-1377583249.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30007/original/kph6km6v-1377583249.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30007/original/kph6km6v-1377583249.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30007/original/kph6km6v-1377583249.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30007/original/kph6km6v-1377583249.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30007/original/kph6km6v-1377583249.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30007/original/kph6km6v-1377583249.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30007/original/kph6km6v-1377583249.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew_Roberts</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It has been suggested the desire to approach and engage with objects that are cute is <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19451625">highly rewarding</a>, releasing a quantity of dopamine into the brain cortex.</p>
<p>That is interesting because many of the <a href="http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/trainor/Nelson_Trainor2007.pdf">same neural structures</a> activated by cuteness are also activated when an individual is being aggressive. Indeed, it has been shown that the brain <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18193405">rewards aggression</a> as it does other types of behaviours. </p>
<p>Perhaps the apparent aggression seen in response to cuteness is actually an exaggerated approach response mediated by the motivational aspects of both types of behaviours. If that is so, there should be a difference, at the neural level, between real and cute aggression.</p>
<p>Intriguingly, there is some precedent in other contexts for the brain to blend behaviours that are in most cases seemingly independent. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia">Synaesthetes</a> experience various (and to non-synaesthetes surprising) combinations of sensory experiences. </p>
<p>In one common manifestation, synaesthetes will experience numbers or letters as having inherent to them a particular colour. It has been shown that the neural mechanisms mediating those effects are <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028393206002417">higher-order</a>, arising from activity in sites where colour and number and letter processes converge.</p>
<p>It may be that cute aggression is, in the same way, the integration of different responses to a single, very motivating, stimulus.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/16884/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Humans respond to cute. Show us just about any little critter with a big round head and a pair of large, blinking-in-the-headlights eyes and cooing will ensue. Add to that a set of chubby cheeks, a button…Anna Brooks, Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Neuroscience, Southern Cross UniversityRicky van der Zwan, Associate Professor in Neuroscience and Psychology, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/99292012-10-05T04:31:40Z2012-10-05T04:31:40ZCute cats/puppies/piglets online – kawaii they help you concentrate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16213/original/kht6zwjy-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">May I help you with your homework?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Kappel</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cute things are popular worldwide. Japan is known as a country filled with cute fancy goods. Various kinds of anime and character items, such as <a href="http://www.sanrio.com/hellokitty2012">Hello Kitty</a> and <a href="http://www.pokemon.com/au/">Pokémon</a>, are produced and exported to many countries. The word <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawaii"><em>kawaii</em></a> (a Japanese word which is a rough equivalent of cute) is becoming an international word. </p>
<p>However, why cute things attract us and how they affect our mind are not clear. We all know that cute things make us happy, but we know little about how they influence our behaviour. </p>
<p>In a recent paper published in <a href="http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0046362">PLoS ONE</a>, we demonstrated that people’s attention becomes more focused after viewing cute photo images of baby animals. We also found this tendency may facilitate performance of subsequent tasks that require concentration.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16214/original/3qsvg3n7-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16214/original/3qsvg3n7-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16214/original/3qsvg3n7-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16214/original/3qsvg3n7-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16214/original/3qsvg3n7-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16214/original/3qsvg3n7-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16214/original/3qsvg3n7-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16214/original/3qsvg3n7-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Need to concentrate?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Charles Dawley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We conducted three experiments with 132 university students. The participants were asked to sort seven pictures of baby animals (puppies and kittens) according to their preference within 1.5 minutes. </p>
<p>This short-time experience improved their performance in a fine dexterity task using tweezers (the children’s game “<a href="http://www.hasbro.com/games/en_US/operation/">Operation</a>”) and in a non-motor visual search task.</p>
<p>More specifically, students picked up more pieces successfully in the Operation task after they viewed images of baby animals than before they viewed the images. The number of successful trials increased from 7.5 to 10.0 (out of 14) on average. </p>
<p>The mean time to complete the task also increased from 136 seconds to 151 seconds. In contrast, participants who viewed images of adult animals (dogs and cats) did not show a statistically significant increase in either measure (from 7.7 to 8.3 and from 138 seconds to 139 seconds). </p>
<p>The result suggests that viewing cute images makes people behave more deliberately and perform tasks with greater time and care.</p>
<p>In the second experiment, students searched for a designated digit in a random array of 40 digits and gave the number of count as quickly and accurately as possible. The number of correct answers given within a time limit of 3 min increased from 22.8 to 26.4 after viewing baby animal images. Adult animal images were ineffective (from 23.8 to 24.0).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16216/original/jv6xz964-1349396955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16216/original/jv6xz964-1349396955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16216/original/jv6xz964-1349396955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16216/original/jv6xz964-1349396955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16216/original/jv6xz964-1349396955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16216/original/jv6xz964-1349396955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16216/original/jv6xz964-1349396955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16216/original/jv6xz964-1349396955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Compulsory viewing for surgeons.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Kappel</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Together with the result of the first experiment, the data indicate that the improvement was associated with either a decrease or an increase in performance speed, depending on the nature of the task.</p>
<p>In the third experiment, students performed a global–local letter task; this type of task is often used for assessing the breadth of attentional focus. Each stimulus was a larger letter composed of smaller letters. Generally, humans process the global feature of a stimulus faster than its local feature. </p>
<p>However, the processing time difference between global and local features of the letter stimulus was reduced after viewing cute images. That means, viewing cute images makes people’s attention narrower.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16215/original/ny5gwjhn-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16215/original/ny5gwjhn-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16215/original/ny5gwjhn-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16215/original/ny5gwjhn-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16215/original/ny5gwjhn-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16215/original/ny5gwjhn-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1023&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16215/original/ny5gwjhn-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1023&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16215/original/ny5gwjhn-1349396948.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1023&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Am I narrowing your attention?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Northern Soul/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These effects are interpreted as a consequence of the function of kawaii. Kawaii is a positive emotion that is associated with approach motivation and the tendency toward systematic processing. When we see a cute thing, we are motivated to get closer to it and to know its details. </p>
<p>This action tendency is associated with a narrower attentional focus. Apparently this tendency lasts for a while and influences subsequent task performance.</p>
<p>In my view, cute (kawaii) is not really an adjective that describes the attribute of an object. Rather, it is better conceptualised as an emotion that emerges from the relationship between a viewer and the object. Images of kittens and puppies are typical stimuli that induce this kind of emotion. </p>
<p>We do not know yet, however, whether the observed effect is specific to images of babies and infants. The present study did not distinguish between the perception of infantility and the feeling of cuteness. </p>
<p>It is worth studying whether viewing cute things which are not babies (such as showing a picture of an iguana to a lizard lover) has a similar effect.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16218/original/5gndwfx2-1349397767.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16218/original/5gndwfx2-1349397767.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16218/original/5gndwfx2-1349397767.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16218/original/5gndwfx2-1349397767.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16218/original/5gndwfx2-1349397767.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16218/original/5gndwfx2-1349397767.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16218/original/5gndwfx2-1349397767.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16218/original/5gndwfx2-1349397767.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Your daily dose of kawaii.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andy Leonard</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The present findings indicate that viewing cute things not only makes us happier but also affects our behaviour. As a representative of Japanese pop culture, kawaii has been commercially produced in the form of characters and goods. </p>
<p>However, to date, little scientific explanation has been given to what kawaii is and what the advantage of being cute or being with cute things. </p>
<p>The present findings provide a first hint to elucidate the psychological basis of the world-wide prevalence of cute things.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/9929/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hiroshi Nittono receives funding from The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI No. 23330217.
</span></em></p>Cute things are popular worldwide. Japan is known as a country filled with cute fancy goods. Various kinds of anime and character items, such as Hello Kitty and Pokémon, are produced and exported to many…Hiroshi Nittono, Associate Professor, Director of Cognitive Psychophysiology Laboratory, Hiroshima UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.