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Ever Wanted to Squeeze a Baby? The Science Behind ‘Cute Aggression’
Your urge to gobble up those chubby cheeks has an evolutionary purpose
If you’ve ever had the desire to hug a cute baby or animal supertight, you’re part of the approximately 50% of people who experience what psychologists call “cute aggression.”
A physically enthusiastic response to a chubby one-year-old or a new puppy is just one example of what psychologists call a “dimorphous expression,” or an incongruent display of emotion. Without proper context, these urges might seem puzzling, but recent studies show they not only make sense psychologically, but may also serve as an important protective mechanism.
Oriana Aragon, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at Clemson University, became interested in the scientific underpinnings of cute aggression in 2011 after she saw model Leslie Bibb say on Conan O’Brien that a puppy was “so cute she wanted to bash it.” (Bibb later revisited this topic in a 2018 interview with O’Brien, claiming that wanting to punch a baby is just “how she expresses love.”)
“If we feel like we want to squish something delicate, it might be an odd but effective way to remind us that ‘you could squish this, so…
