Cute Aggression

Have you ever seen baby with the cutest little face and just wanted to squish its cheeks? Or a puppy with soft, fluffy ears that you want to grab? Maybe you’ve experienced this, maybe you haven’t, but this so-called “cute aggression” phenomenon is actually fairly common. Even though you may feel like clenching your fists when you see something cute, you don’t actually want to hurt it. But why does this happen? What is it about cute things that makes us feel aggressive? Here to answer our questions today is Dr. Oriana Aragon, a social psychologist who studies why our emotional expressions don’t always line up with how we feel.