Adults' responses to infants varying in perceived cuteness

Abstract

The effects of perceived cuteness of infant photographs on the behaviour of young adults was investigated. Looking, facial muscle activity, and skin conductance were measured during individual presentations of the photographs, whereas only looking was measured during paired presentations. Both measures of looking time were significantly affected by the perceived cuteness of infant photographs, with infants ranked as most cute looked at longest and those ranked least cute looked at for the shortest length of time. Increased facial muscle activity previously associated with pleasant or happy facial expressions was associated with presentations of infant photographs but was not related to perceived cuteness. A second experiment indicated that increased facial muscle activity was specific to infant photographs. Adult responses to infant physical appearance appear to be regulated by two mechanisms: an initial positive response to “babyishness”, reflected by increased facial zygomaticus muscle activity, and an individual cognitive preference response to “cuteness”, reflected by differential looking times.