How do Humans Perceive Cuteness?
Definition of the Baby Schema (Kindchenschema)
The term baby schema (or Kindchenschema) refers to a specific set of facial features commonly found in human and animal infants, including a large head, a round face, a high forehead, large eyes, and a small nose and mouth. These features trigger an „innate releasing mechanism“ for caregiving behaviors and emotional responsiveness (Frontiers, 2014). This response is crucial for survival, as it encourages nurturing behavior toward infants. Neuroimaging studies show that the baby schema activates brain areas associated with caregiving, increasing attention, protective behavior, and reducing the likelihood of aggression.
Is the Visual Preference of Baby Schema Innate?
Studies show that adults tend to spend more time looking at infant faces than adult faces, and they prefer „cuter“ infants over less cute ones. This visual preference appears early in development. In one study, even children spent more time viewing images with stronger baby schema features than those with weaker ones. However, some research suggests that sensitivity to baby-like traits develops gradually. While adults rated infant faces higher in cuteness, children gave similar ratings to both infants and adults who still retained some infantile features.
Participants tend to focus their gaze on three main areas of the face—particularly the eyes, nose, and mouth—once they detect baby schema traits.
Cuteness Perception Across Species
Interestingly, the perception of cuteness is not limited to human infants. It extends to other species as well. Images of pets, such as dogs and cats, can evoke similar responses. However, studies show differences in gaze allocation; for example, humans focus less on the mouths of animals compared to human faces. This is because humans are less attuned to interpreting emotional cues from the mouths of non-human species. For humans, the mouth plays a crucial role in communication and language comprehension.
Pet ownership does not necessarily enhance the ability to read emotional cues from animals, but it does increase „cuteness sensitivity.“ Pets often retain juvenile features throughout their lives, both in appearance and behavior, which naturally attracts humans. This is why even cartoon characters or stuffed animals designed with infantile traits can trigger similar caregiving responses. The bond between humans and their pets often mirrors the parent-child relationship, reinforcing the emotional connection.
Summary of the Study
The concept of baby schema was initially proposed as a set of infantile traits that attract human attention and elicit caregiving behaviors. A study funded by the European Science Foundation demonstrated these effects by presenting participants with 120 manipulated color photographs showing varying degrees of baby schema features. Participants consistently rated images with more pronounced infantile traits as cuter and spent more time looking at them.
While adults tend to have a heightened sensitivity to baby-like features, the attraction to such traits emerges early in childhood. Overall, facial appearance strongly influences perceptions of cuteness and attractiveness, reflecting a deep-seated human interest in infants and a motivation to care for them.
Sofie Neudecker, 31. 12. 2023
Sorces:
„Baby schema in human and animal faces induces cuteness perception and gaze allocation in children.“ Developmental Psychology. Frontiers in Psychology, May 2014. Frontiers Article.
„Kindchenschema: Why do we find Babies so cute?“ Science ABC, July 2020. YouTube Video.
