There is no question that puppies are cute. It does not even seem to matter what type of puppy we’re looking at — as long as the pooch is small and new, they are downright irresistible to most humans. So, why do puppies seem to be so cute? Here is what science tells us about why puppies happen to be so darn cute.
Puppies Evoke a Caregiving Response
Puppies are reliant on our care and exude a “baby-like” quality that melts our hearts just like babies tend to. The baby-like features of a puppy evoke a caregiving response that makes us want to act as protectors.
Features in puppies that help conjure this response include:
Large round eyes
Big cheeks
Small chins
A puppy’s head typically looks larger than it should when compared to the body, which seems to be endearing to humans. Many philosophers, including John Bowlby, thought that the feelings that we experience when looking at puppies or babies are part of our attachment system.
Puppies Activate Our Reward System
Looking at puppies tends to tap into our brains on a neural level and activate our reward system. Simply laying eyes on a cute puppy makes us want to reward ourselves with fuzzy feelings. Cute puppies also tend to invoke empathy and feelings of goodwill. Just like with babies, we want nothing more than to make sure the puppies we spend time with are safe and comfortable.
Puppies Are Completely Harmless
A cute puppy cannot do anything to harm you, so it is easy to “ooh” and “aah” over the puppy when you are feeling completely safe around them. Not only do the looks of the puppy make them attractive, but their innocent actions also add to the cuteness factor. A puppy that is just sitting there is cute enough in itself. However, when that puppy starts to roll over on their back or cuddle up in your lap, your heart melts just a bit more.
Puppies Can Create Cute Aggression in Humans
A study published in the Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience journal set out to determine how cute aggression affects us when we look at cute things like babies and puppies. Essentially, the study found that our minds create something called cute aggression to help us counteract the overwhelming feeling of love and care that we develop when looking at cute things. If we are so enamored with a cute puppy that we cannot care for it, the puppy would likely end up dying.
Therefore, our cuteness aggression kicks in and keeps us on an even keel so we are not so overwhelmed with the cuteness, and we can focus more on the practical side of caring for the pup. It is important to note that cute aggression does not equate to wanting to harm the things that we think are cute. But it can be attributed to thoughts like, “That puppy is so cute, I could eat it!”
The Cuteness Helps Puppies Survive
A small study was done to determine when a puppy is most attractive to humans. The study involved three different breeds of dogs: the Cane Corso, the Jack Russell Terrier, and the White Shepherd. The people in the study were shown pictures of the different dogs during different stages of life while they were monitored. As was expected, people showed that they preferred the looks of the dogs when they were about 8 weeks of age.
This age just so happens to coincide with the time that a puppy’s mother will kick them out of the den and expect them to start fending for themselves. The researchers believe that we humans instinctively know that puppies this age require nurturing and care to survive. Therefore, the fact that puppies are so cute may be nature’s way of making sure that they can survive when humans are around.
Final Thoughts
There seem to be many reasons that we are so obsessed with the cuteness of these animals! Thanks to our empathetic ideals and nurturing instincts, we can take the love that we feel when we see a cute puppy and turn that love into tangible interactions through petting, snuggling, feeding, and generally caring for the pup.
Featured Image Credit: Photology1971, Shutterstock
The researchers believe that we humans instinctively know that puppies this age require nurturing and care to survive. Therefore, the fact that puppies are so cute may be nature's way of making sure that they can survive when humans are around.
Key Takeaways. Humans have evolved to find certain features, such as large eyes and round faces, cute because they are associated with babies. Dogs have been bred to retain juvenile traits, such as playfulness and dependence, into adulthood, which may make them even more appealing to humans.
And like babies, as well as kittens, teddies and many cartoon characters, puppies provoke in us an automatic 'cute response'. They grab our attention, we enjoy looking at them and, at a neural level, they trigger activity associated with reward and also compassion and empathy.
Is there a psychological reason behind finding dogs cute? Yes, humans find dogs cute due to evolutionary and psychological factors such as their infant-like features, which trigger nurturing instincts and promote bonding between humans and dogs.
Studies have also shown that responses to cuteness—and to facial attractiveness in general—seem to be similar across and within cultures. In a study conducted by Stephan Hamann of Emory University, he found using an fMRI, that cute pictures increased brain activity in the orbital frontal cortex.
The more infantile the features (round face, high forehead, big eyes, small nose and mouth), the more they looked and the cuter they were perceived to be. Baby animals are even cuter than baby humans. Both adults and young children preferred looking at animals to human faces.
One answer is that humans have had immense control over the evolution of domesticated cats and dogs, changing their appearance over generations through selective breeding. “Animals like dogs and cats have been essentially bred to look like babies,” says Kringelbach. “They have the big eyes, they have the big ears.
These characteristics, prominent in puppies and kittens, subconsciously remind us of human babies, activating an inherent urge to protect and care for them. It is an evolutionary mechanism designed to ensure the survival of young ones who cannot fend for themselves.
In other words: domestic dogs have evolved the ability to perform facial expressions such as “puppy dog eyes” because it has historically made them more appealing to humans and more likely to be nurtured by them. They have literally evolved to be “cute”.
The study, published in this May's Anthrozoös: A Multidisciplinary Journal of the Interactions of People and Animals, revealed that 8 weeks old is the age when people find pups most attractive.
When we encounter something cute, it ignites fast brain activity in regions such as the orbitofrontal cortex, which are linked to emotion and pleasure. It also attracts our attention in a biased way: babies have privileged access to entering conscious awareness in our brains.
In the same way that we feel a desire to take care of human infants, it's possible that animals with cute, baby-like features also trigger that same desire. It could just be a function of the brain to see features which appear cute, and then want to help these creatures!
The feeling of intense euphoria after seeing cute things is not an isolated incidence. Kittens trigger serotonin and dopamine in people's brains, making them more loveable to people. The simple phrase of “awh” can't help but escape your lips when you see big brown eyes and a delicate button nose.
Scientists have found that, just like oxytocin, dogs have higher levels of serotonin compared to wolves. This kind of happiness has to do with their relationship to humans—as dogs were domesticated, the human–dog bond became stronger, bringing both parties more happiness. Dogs give us so much.
Dogs have big, innocent eyes, much like human babies, which trigger the parental instincts in us. Furthermore, research conducted by universities across the globe, has demonstrated that dogs and humans share a mutual gaze that intensifies our emotional bond with them.
They may perceive us as unique and even find our smooth skin and soft features appealing in a furry world. But perhaps most importantly, dogs are incredibly intuitive creatures that can sense our emotions and respond accordingly.
In other words: domestic dogs have evolved the ability to perform facial expressions such as “puppy dog eyes” because it has historically made them more appealing to humans and more likely to be nurtured by them. They have literally evolved to be “cute”.
Introduction: My name is Jeremiah Abshire, I am a outstanding, kind, clever, hilarious, curious, hilarious, outstanding person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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