Popular Mechanics: Cute aggression could have evolutionary benefits
UC professor explores why emotions don’t seem to match true feelings
The desire to squeeze a puppy or pinch a baby’s cheeks might have an evolutionary basis that makes people better caretakers and contributes to our survival, Popular Mechanics reported.
Oriana Aragon, assistant professor of marketing
Oriana Aragon, PhD, a social psychologist and assistant professor of marketing in the University of Cincinnati’s Carl H. Lindner College of Business, first identified the phenomenon of cute aggression a decade ago.
While individuals may feel a strong urge to squeeze something cute, there’s no desire for harm. Rather, it’s a mismatch of expressions.
“[D]imorphous expressions are when your emotions do not match what we would normally expect you to be feeling based upon your emotional expression,” Aragon said. “So, if you were to see people crying tears of joy, when removed from context, people think that the person is sad. In context, for instance, when receiving an award or seeing a loved one for the first time in a long time, those tears are easily interpreted as representing a positive emotion.”
Researchers have suggested the feelings of cute aggression could be a release valve for emotions when seeing something cute or act as a reminder to treat fragile babies with care.
“Physical characteristics such as physical roundness, large wide-set eyes, round cheeks, small chins, and even being a miniature version of something create ‘cuteness,’” Aragon said. “These features can make human babies and baby animals seem cute, and even products such as cars can seem cute when they have these features.”
Featured image at top: Father holding his baby boy. Photo/Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash
Impact 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
'Paradigm-shifting' study confirms effectiveness of long-acting HIV treatment
February 26, 2026
The results of a clinical trial involving the University of Cincinnati, recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine, show people failing HIV treatments with oral medications were able to be treated successfully using injections.
How do horses whinny?
February 26, 2026
A horse makes the low-pitched part of its whinny by vibrating its vocal cords — similar to how humans speak and sing — and the high-pitched part by whistling with its voice box, according to a new paper published in the journal Current Biology and featured in Smithsonian magazine.
UC receives grant for AI use in medical education
February 26, 2026
The University of Cincinnati is turning to artificial intelligence to help solve a problem in medical training. The College of Medicine was awarded a grant valued at more than $1 million to use AI in advanced physician training through personalized learning.