From emojis to internet memes, video games to plushie toys, food to loveable robotic design, cuteness has taken over our world. But how has something so charming and seemingly harmless – adorable, doe-eyed animals, chubby-cheeked babies, flowers, hearts, stars, sweets and other such romantic motifs – gained such traction? Sherman, Haidt, & Coan (2009), in two experiments, found that exposure to high cuteness stimuli increased performance when playing the Operation game, a task that requires extreme carefulness. The study said that the shift in behavior toward greater carefulness is consistent with the viewpoint that cuteness is something that releases the human caregiving system. The study said that the shift in behavior toward greater carefulness also makes sense as an adaptation for caring for small children. [19] Cultural significance

Kobayashi ga Kawai Sugite Tsurai!! Shojo Manga Listed With Anime DVD". Anime News Network. 2013-05-30 . Retrieved 2013-09-09. This is your personal collection of unicorns. Let's begin coloring the cutest unicorns using lots of tools. Van Duuren, Mike; Kendell-Scott, Linda; Stark, Natalie. "Early Aesthetic Choices: Infant Preferences for Attractive Premature Infant Faces" (PDF), King Alfred's College. Archived from the original. So Cute It Hurts!!, known in Japan as Kobayashi ga Kawai Sugite Tsurai!! ( Japanese: 小林が可愛すぎてツライっ!!, lit. "Kobayashi is So Cute it Hurts!!", abbreviated Koba Cute!), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Gō Ikeyamada. It was adapted into an original video animation, included in volume 3 limited edition of the series. [7] The manga series ran in the Sho-Comi manga magazine from 2012 to 2015, and was compiled into 15 tankobon volumes. [8] An English translation was published by Viz Media, and in Southeast Asia, it was published by Shogakukan Asia.Ep." is shortened form for episode and refers to an episode number of the collected So Cute It Hurts anime The word first appeared in the English language around 1275–1325. It stems from the Middle English word cunnan , which means “to know.” adorable While you might call an outfit cute, calling an adult cute in many cases glosses over the fact that they are complex , compelling, and capable . While people may use cute to pin a label on someone or something, in some cases it can be insulting. Women, particularly those who are petite, hear this word far too often. a b c Karraker, Katherine; Stern, Marilyn (1990). "Infant physical attractiveness and facial expression: Effects on adult perceptions". Basic and Applied Social Psychology. 11 (4): 371–385. doi: 10.1207/s15324834basp1104_2. There are suggestions that hormone levels can affect a person's perception of cuteness. Konrad Lorenz suggests that "caretaking behaviour and affective orientation" towards infants as an innate mechanism, and this is triggered by cute characteristics such as "chubby cheeks" and large eyes. The Sprengelmeyer et al. (2009) study expands on this claim by manipulating baby pictures to test groups on their ability to detect differences in cuteness. The studies show that premenopausal women detected cuteness better than same aged postmenopausal women. Furthermore, to support this claim, women taking birth control pills that raise levels of reproductive hormones detect cuteness better than same aged women not taking the pill. [14]

This finding has also been demonstrated in a study conducted by T. R. Alley in which he had 25 undergraduate students (consisting of 7 men and 18 women) rate the cuteness of infants depending on different characteristics such as age, behavioral traits, and physical characteristics such as head shape, and facial feature configuration. [15] Preference in young children A study by Konrad Lorenz in the early 1940s found that the shape of an infant's head positively correlated with adult caregiving and an increased perception of "cute". However a study by Thomas Alley found no such correlation and pointed out faulty procedures in that study. Alley's study found that cephalic head shape of an infant did induce a positive response from adults, and these children were considered to be more "cute". In his study, Alley had 25 undergraduate students rate line drawings of an infant's face. The same drawing was used each time, however the cephalic head shape was changed using a cardioidal transformation (a transformation that models cephalic growth in relation to ageing process) to adjust the perceived age; other features of the face were not changed. The study concluded that a large head shape increased perceived cuteness, which then elicited a positive response in adult caretaking. The study also noted that perceived cuteness was also dependent on other physical and behavioural characteristics of the child, including age. [15] Estren, M.J. (2012). "The Neoteny Barrier: Seeking Respect for the Non-Cute". Journal of Animal Ethics. 2 (1): 6–11. doi: 10.5406/janimalethics.2.1.0006. CUTE brings together contemporary artworks, including new artist commissions, and cultural phenomena such as music, fashion, toys, video games and social media, in this brand-new show examining the world’s embrace of cute culture and how it has become such an influential measure of our times. It will seek to unravel cuteness’ emotive charge, revealing its extraordinary and complex power and potential.

Word History

In some cases, we use cute facetiously . For example, you might say of a coworker who constantly undermines you, “He’s always trying to get cute in meetings with our boss.” But what you really mean is cunning . While cunning can also be a compliment, in most cases it implies a level of deceit and slyness, and it offers a more direct way of calling someone out than cute. If someone or something is especially squee-worthy, you could take cute up a notch and proclaim it adorbs . The informal adjective means “very cute; adorable.” When people started using this shortened version of adorable isn’t clear, but it seems to have popped up in the 21st century. Just know that if you have tween and teen children, they may cringe if they hear you use it. quaint

If you want to let someone know you find them physically attractive, they may be mildly flattered if you tell them you think they’re cute. But imagine if you told them they were pulchritudinous ? An adjective, it means “physically beautiful; comely.” It’s a more mature word than cute, and using it may make you sound smart, too … or like you’ve been spending a lot of time on Thesaurus.com . Breijo: As a general rule of thumb, I’m not big on soda, but this one was so fun and surprisingly refreshing, especially after hoofing it through the park, that I really enjoyed it. The mix of boba flavors means you don’t know what each sip will contain, while the mango has an almost jelly-like consistency. This one’s a lot of fun.

Bogin, B. (1997). Evolutionary Hypotheses for Human Childhood. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, vol. 40, pp. 63–89 Preedy, V.R. (2012). Handbook of anthropometry: Physical measures of human form in health and disease. New York: Springer Science. ISBN 978-1-4419-1787-4

a b Jones, D.; etal. (December 1995). "Sexual Selection, Physical Attractiveness, and Facial Neoteny: Cross-cultural Evidence and Implications [and Comments and Reply]". Current Anthropology. 36 (5): 723–748. doi: 10.1086/204427. S2CID 52840802 . Retrieved 22 January 2017.Sherman, Haidt, & Coan (2009) used images of puppies and kittens for the study's "high cuteness" stimuli in two experiments. [19] Mark J. Estren, Ph.D. in psychology from the University at Buffalo, [21] said cute animals get more public attention and scientific study due to having physical characteristics that would be considered neotenous from the perspective of human development. Estren said that humans should be mindful of their bias for cute animals, so animals that would not be considered cute are also valued in addition to cute animals. [22] Doug Jones, a visiting scholar in anthropology at Cornell University, said that the faces of monkeys, dogs, birds and even the fronts of cars can be made to appear cuter by morphing them with a " cardioidal" ( heart-shaped) mathematical transformation. Jones said that negative cardioidal strain results in faces appearing less mature and cuter by causing facial features at the top of the face to expand outward and upward while causing features at the bottom of the face to contract inward and upward. [5] a b c Koyama, Reiko; Takahashi, Yuwen; Mori, Kazuo (2006). "Assessing the cuteness of children: Significant factors and gender differences". Social Behavior and Personality. 34 (9): 1087–1100. doi: 10.2224/sbp.2006.34.9.1087.