5 ms·
Viewing Cute Images Narrows Attentional Focus (2012)
- jey 7y agoHas this finding been replicated since?
- Diederich 7y agoDon't know, but this experiment was a replication of a prior study: "The results replicated and extended the result of Sherman et al. [16] that viewing cute images has a positive effect on behavioral performance in tasks that require carefulness." http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.335.9227&rep=rep1&type=pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.335...
- jchw 7y agoWow, who came up with this hypothesis? If the conclusion is correct, then what a fascinating connection indeed. It makes you wonder what other subtle effects cultural norms could have. It also makes me wonder if there has ever been any research on the cultural stigma of cute images, a topic that I have been personally perplexed by ever since the stigma went away for me personally. Still, this should probably be taken with a grain of salt given the replication crisis.
- kossTKR 7y agoAllow me to riff a bit on the pretty interesting question: "why is there social stigma against cute images": I think it is either seen as an infantile trait to decorate for example your apartment with neotenys objects if you are not a young girl or a grandmom - or seen as a cold or unsophisticated capture of the anima in nature. In the adult it becomes either a vulgar aesthetic just as decorating with posters from a porn magazine, a non-ironic poster from an action movie, or even worse seen as some kind of semi pervese pathology of an adult mind that lacks the maturity post important developmental rite-de-passages that still exists in all societies that aren't extremely cushioned both economically and technologically. In other words seen as a weakness, not because you have to become a strong-man, or right-wing or some other primal or ideological fantasy but because it signals the absurdity of the post-tribal, post-farming society. The level of anthropomorphization and adult adoration of "cuteness" would make most people from more than 100 years ago or people of today living closer to earth roll their eyes because it's a sign of the incredible riches and otherworldly level of infantilisation only afforded those at the top of the world pyramid. This is why there is often a direct proportionality between a countries riches and how much you see indoor pets for example, or how much you see non-symbolic representations of animals devoid of any mythological significance only to appear as "cute mammals" without deeper meaning ie. a human perversion of nature. Looking at images of "just a cute cat" then becomes stigmatised just as hardcore porn is taboo while "sophisticated classic erotic paintings" are not, because they are not seen as zoo-like or are decontextualised in a human centric and "exploitative" manner. So obvious "cuteness" is just "too much" from most sophisticated aesthetics point of view because advanced societies maturation processes all have discipline, restraint and sophistication, ie. some esotericism as fundamental building blocks. A cute image on the wall is then seen as "lower class" or "lower education" because it lacks the sophistication, cultural context and at the same time becomes vulgar just as the decontextualised "quote posters" you also often see in homes without these sensibilities. Instead of showcasing the literature that leads to the insight you just show the quote, or instead of cultivating the "Metta" like qualities of motherliness or charitability through travel or charity or some other serious endeavour rooted in reality you just surround yourself with "cute" things, - or sexy things or big-strong-man things that elicit the most basic skinner box like responses from pics of "boob", "tiny mouse", "big explosion" instead of indulging in more "subtle" and sophisticated arts, literature and iconography. Also interesting is the fact that industrial farming is "unholy" in the same way as "cute-porn". Because it ultimately lacks the respect of the inherent spirit and sacredness that pre abrahamic religions saw in all living creatures both plants and animals. A respect for the cyclical nature of everything or the family where each entity has it's own god-like importance completely interconnected with local ecosystem. "capturing spirits" as some contemporary tribespeople think photographies do is a good modern translation of this concept - and why it would be seen as masturbatory or solipsistic to just look at at creature to illicit a calming response in your brain.
- mikekchar 7y agoThis is very cultural. The west, and especially North America, is very anti-cute in general. I think part of it is that traditionally cute was something that was culturally acceptable for women and girls to enjoy. Men and boys were supposed to show some disdain for cuteness. As discrimination against women became a more recognised issue, I think it became less acceptable for women to enjoy cuteness. To be cute was to invite the discrimination they were fighting against. I live in Japan now, where women and girls tend to enjoy cute things. I really enjoy that aspect of the culture. I wish that instead of women fighting against the cute stereotype we could allow men to enjoy cuteness. It's obviously a much more difficult approach to the problem, but to me it seems much more desirable.
- kossTKR 7y agoJapan is an interesting example. But aren't they the essence of a highly educated society that exactly because of it's neurotic and academic cutoff from their bodies or the "dionysian" undergrowth explode in fetichization of sexuality, infantile fantasies and strict codes of conduct for the forever peter-pan like mind, slaving away as salary men, getting teenage drunk in the weekends with the boss and then have no guts to ask the girl of their dreams out because they have lost all of their mirror neurons to screen culture? They did this because of escapism from and as a reaction to the extreme horrors of war so i understand why - but i mean suicides, extremely low birthrates, and lots of problems with guys that lack social skills doesn't seem like a healthy society to me - even though i do enjoy both Japan and their cute iconogrophy so i am somewhat infatuated. What is very interesting though is that cute-culture flips 180 from being a simple or infantile in Japan exactly because it shows restraint! Restraint from the violence that created the horrors of war, so in that light it's pretty understandable. It's actually sophisticated as a reaction in their cultural context, but not in the US because they haven't been glassed involuntarily. Not that the vapid gung-ho fantasy of the US is much better alternative but it makes sense as a military superpower and as an extension of settler culture. In that light Japan is the clever little brother that holds his teddy bear tightly while the US is the big bully - but both societies have high levels of infantilization, in the US it's just through mass-media and a culture of extreme convenience. Point being that both of these are unhealthy, and a return to living closer to nature, or biology or whatever, as an antidote to both climate collapse and bodily neurosis, depression and anxiety will probably also lead to a world where "cuteness" is just a part of nature, and not an object of fetizhization, just like the US fetishises guns, or Germany does Industry. All functions of geopolitical games that create pathologies for whole societies. But also ultimately as functions of extreme wealth and a lifestyle where there is even time or space to fetishise anything beyond "nature". Then again we are on Hackernews the epitome of an apollonian realm and i am also in part spawned from the internet. Maybe the antidote is to try to survive in the woods then travel in third world countries and lastly farm the land for a few years before returning to internet-world as an antidote to Technological Society. (that's going to happen) Will i be able to enjoy cute kittens after that, will they elicit any dopamine, or will i just club and eat them? I have no idea.
- jotm 7y agoIsn't this the same reaction as when one listens to good music, reads/views/hears a motivating speech/image/video, etc? An increase in endorphins and/or dopamine?
- ojosilva 7y agoIt probably could, but typically studies associate music and precision [1], not speediness. OP's anchor points to a specific part of the research that cites speed along motor dexterity as an unexpected result. Regardless of the similarities/differences, it's still amazing that you could get similar results from a quick glance at a cute kitten as you would listening to an entire movement from a classical piece. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15135879 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15135879
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- cestith 7y agoI wonder if this is some sort of evolutionary caretaker response. We are made aware of something cute and juvenile and suddenly our attention to certain stimuli change. So perhaps this is our brains preparing to protect the juveniles from the environment, triggered by even a digital image.
- jihadjihad 7y ago> For future applications, cute objects may be used as an emotion elicitor to induce careful behavioral tendencies in specific situations, such as driving and office work. How in the world is this supposed to work? Projecting pictures of puppies onto a HUD while driving?
- hamilyon2 7y agoWow. Dose response analysis would be great. I am interested in long term effects too.
- olivermarks 7y agoWhen I had a high stress corporate job with a lot of internal politics and back stabbing I used to look at an old site called 'cute overload' while on conference calls, it was amazing how it would deflect anger and stress looking at adorable hamsters and kittens
- flqn 7y agoFinally, a viable reason to tell my boss why I have so many anime backgrounds!
- kingludite 7y agoAh yes, now envision the office of the future...