Eye Size Affects Cuteness in Different Facial Expressions and Ages

Lichang Yao,Jiajia Yang,Qiong Wu,Mengni Zhou,Satoshi Takahashi,Yiyang Yu,Jinglong Wu,Ting Guo,Qi Dai,Yoshimichi Ejima,Yang Liu

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.674456

Abstract

Researchers have suggested that infants exhibiting baby schema are considered cute. These similar studies have mainly focused on changes in overall baby schema facial features. However, whether a change in only eye size affects the perception of cuteness across different facial expressions and ages has not been explicitly evaluated until now. In the present study, a paired comparison method and 7-point scale were used to investigate the effects of eye size on perceived cuteness across facial expressions (positive, neutral, and negative) and ages (adults and infants). The results show that stimuli with large eyes were perceived to be cuter than both unmanipulated eyes and small eyes across all facial expressions and age groups. This suggests not only that the effect of baby schema on cuteness is based on changes in a set of features but also that eye size as an individual feature can affect the perception of cuteness.

Highlights

The face is a special visual stimulus that can convey emotional information, such as a sense of beauty and cuteness, to others
Eye size influences the perception of cuteness, even at different ages and with different facial expressions
Eye size and expression type can influence the perception of cuteness, there was a weak correlation between the two in this study, possibly because of the different neural pathways along which the two features are transmitted

Summary

Introduction

The face is a special visual stimulus that can convey emotional information, such as a sense of beauty and cuteness, to others. Cuteness is a positive stimulus with biological significance that is often a feature of immature and vulnerable objects, such as infants, children, or young animals It inspires the empathy and compassion of observers (Glocker et al, 2009a,b; Buckley, 2016; Yin et al, 2017). Konrad Lorenz defined the “Kindchenschema” as an innate releasing mechanism for caretaking behavior (Lorenz, 1943) and proposed baby schema as a set of infantile traits, such as a large head, a high and protruding forehead, large eyes, chubby cheeks, a small nose and mouth, short and thick extremities, and a plump body shape, which together trigger such a mechanism (Glocker et al, 2009a) Children with these features are considered cuter than others (Lorenz, 1943; Glocker et al, 2009a,b), and cuter facial features can attract attention and promote adult caretaking (Brosch and Sander, 2007; Luo et al, 2015b)

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