Cuteness Factor

Hi Puzzlers,

Check out our new puzzle Baby Faces. One word describes it to a tee and that’s CUTE! When I look at it all I can do is smile. Then, I slowly get an almost irresistible urge to hug and hold them. Babies do the same thing for me. I am always saying I have to go visit so and so to get my baby fix. What is it about babies and animal babies that drive us to feel this way? Well, I called it the cuteness factor.

So what defines cuteness? The Webster’s Dictionary defines it as an “attractive or pretty especially in a childish, youthful, or delicate way.” Okay that’s nice but I want an exact description of cuteness. So I looked to infancy characteristics for a definition and found exact details. They include big heads, small eyes, large eyes, a small nose, dimples and chubby limbs. Also the personality traits of helplessness, playfulness and being affectionate all add to the cuteness factor. Oh much better I can identify with this. In fact, humans have been selectively breeding house pets for these characteristics too. Okay, that explains why many people say kittens are the cutest animals in the world.

In 1950, Konrad Lorenz theorized, “Infantile features triggered nurturing responses in adults.” Nature wanted to make sure we cared for our young, so it built in the cuteness factor into infant mammals. Mammals including humans seem to have a basic need to nurture. An example of the need to nurture, from the animal kingdom, would be the countless animal rescue stories stating mother dogs nursing orphaned kittens and baby goats. Interestingly enough with humans the cuteness factor is the same across and within cultures.

Cuteness is so prevalent that it is used as a popular marketing tool. “Stephen Jay Gould remarked on this phenomenon in an article for the journal Natural History, in which he pointed out that over time Mickey Mouse had been drawn more and more to resemble an infant—with a bigger head, bigger eyes, and so forth. Gould suggested that this change in Mickey's image was intended to increase his popularity by making him appear cuter.” It is nice to know the how’s and why’s of the cuteness factor. But I still have a massive urge to go hug something…look out Boo-Boo kitty here I come!

Happy Puzzling!