Nat Geo: Exploring our love for cute, and ugly-cute, animals
UC professor explains why these animals are so popular on social media
Exotic animals such as axolotls, bearded dragons and capybaras have become online sensations with billions of views on TikTok. To determine why these cute, or ugly-cute, animals are so popular, National Geographic turned to a University of Cincinnati professor.
Oriana Aragon, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business
Oriana Aragon, a social psychologist and assistant professor of marketing in UC’s Carl H. Lindner College of Business, has spent the past decade researching cute things and our reactions to them.
Our love for axolotls, critically endangered amphibians native to Central Mexico, likely has to do with their big heads and large eyes, Aragon said. Those qualities remind us of human babies and activate our care-giving drive, she said.
“Cute is a huge influencer of human behavior,” Aragon said.
Capybaras, the world's largest rodent, also draw attention because of their cuteness, Aragon said. The South American animals “look vulnerable, rounded,” Aragon said, which could play into our care-giving impulse.
Additionally, capybaras and other exotic animals tap into our love of novelty.
Bearded dragons, lizards native to Australia, also are popular online. They look wild but often are getting attention from people in videos, a juxtaposition of wild and domestic that Aragon thinks causes us to find them appealing.
The nature of social media also plays a role in the animals' appeal, Aragon said.
Featured image at top: An axolotl, a critically endangered amphibian native to Central Mexico. Photo/izanbar/iStock
Innovation Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
Colorado silica dust trial could change the way industry does business
May 17, 2026
Betsy Malloy, Andrew Katsanis Professor of Law, at the University of Cincinnati, spoke with Bloomberg Law about how a Colorado trial could change the way the stone fabrication industry does business.
Driven by curiosity, guided by care
May 14, 2026
Max Wilson, a University of Cincinnati College of Allied Health Sciences health sciences major on the pre-physician assistant track, found his path expanding beyond the classroom and into hands-on research focused on human performance and patient care.
Will a gas tax help lower prices at the pump?
May 14, 2026
WCPO recently reported on Kentucky and Indiana’s steps to combat surging gas prices, cutting and suspending state gas taxes, respectively. UC economist Michael Jones explained the impact on Cincinnati.