‘They’re So Cute I Could Eat Them!’: The Science Behind Cute Aggression

I’m a criminal psychologist and one of the hosts of the new BBC Sounds podcast Bad People. Each week myself and my co-host comedian Sofie Hagen dive into a new true crime, and explore scientific research that can help us understand it. It’s an exploration not just of others, but also of ourselves. And one of the many topics we explore in the series is: at what point do we need to be worried about our thoughts?

One of the most curious examples of this is cute aggression. What is cute aggression? Well, have you ever seen something so cute online or IRL that you feel the urge to squeeze it or pet it really hard, because 'you can’t even'. Or maybe you’ve said to a baby that you just want to 'eat it up'? Or maybe you feel overwhelmed by how cute your partner is one day that you wanted to hug them so hard that they merge with your body… like a literal version of the Spice Girls’ song when Two Become One? If you have had any of these feelings, then you have experienced cute aggression.

You’ll be happy to learn that there is a field of 'cute studies'. This looks at why and when we think something is cute, and informs marketing and design. Big eyes, rounded features, large heads, these are all part of what we commonly consider cute. Together, these child-like features have been referred to as the 'kindschenschema'. It’s been argued that our love of these features comes from a built-in evolutionary feature that makes us think that babies are cute. If our brains reward us for looking at and providing for babies, this makes it easier for our species to survive. So why do we seem to feel the urge to hurt that which we are designed to protect?

It turns out that for cuteness saying that something is just 'too much' is correct. When your brain is overwhelmed by emotions it tries very hard not to short-circuit. This means that if have too much of any feeling your body is likely to pump out the opposite, which is called a dimorphous display of emotion. It can help explain why you might cry when you’re overwhelmed by joy at a wedding, or smile at a funeral, or laugh when you’re nervous. These feelings can be very confusing to yourself and others around you, but they are a healthy response of your brain.

Why do some people get cute aggression while others don’t? It seems that some people get less of a spike in emotion when they see cuteness, so they don’t need the pseudo-aggression to counteract it. In some ways, perhaps those of us who feel cute aggression are the lucky ones – we get a real high from cuteness.

If you, like me, are always looking for cuteness there’s more good news. A 2015 study by Jessica Myrick involving almost 7,000 participants found that looking at 'internet cats' can help you counteract negative feelings like stress, and make you happy. On top of that, the research findings showed that the more cat images and videos people saw, the more enjoyment they get out of them. The researcher referred to it as 'a form of digital pet therapy'. That is, as long as you don’t get too sucked in, as the guilt of not doing the work you are supposed to be getting on with can eat into your happiness...

Want to learn more interesting research that helps you understand your weird side? Bad People on BBC Sounds is available now on BBC Sounds now.