Do you suffer from “cute aggression”? In the delightful presence of chubby babies, fluffy puppies or other adorable little things, it isn’t uncommon to be overwhelmed by a desire to squeeze, pinch or even bite them. You certainly don’t want to hurt the cute creatures—you just want to … squish them. Scientists refer to this as “cute aggression.”
Using the EEG caps, the researchers were also able to gain insight into the neural activity of participants who experienced cute aggression. This response was associated with greater activity not only in the brain’s emotional systems, but also in its reward systems, which regulate motivation, pleasure and feelings of “wanting.”
Scientists suspect that cute aggression is the brain’s way of coping with the overwhelming response that occurs when these two powerful brain systems are triggered; to temper the onslaught of positive feelings, in other words, the brain tosses in a dash of aggression. And there may be a good reason, evolutionarily speaking, why this occurs.
“If you find yourself incapacitated by how cute a baby is—so much so that you simply can't take care of it—that baby is going to starve,” says Stavropoulos (scientist studying cute aggression).
There you have it!
Beloved
I longed for an eternity
To find you
To catch you
And when I finally did
I squeezed so tightly
I broke your wings.
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