Too Cute for Words: Cuteness Evokes the Heartwarming Emotion of Kama Muta

Abstract

A configuration of infantile attributes including a large head, large eyes, with a small nose and mouth low on the head comprise the visual baby schema or Kindchenschema that English speakers call “cute.” In contrast to the stimulus gestalt that evokes it, the evoked emotional response to cuteness has been little studied, perhaps because the emotion has no specific name in English, Norwegian, or German. We hypothesize that cuteness typically evokes kama muta, a social-relational emotion that in other contexts is often labeled in English as being moved or touched, heartwarming, nostalgia, patriotic feeling, being touched by the Spirit, the feels, etcetera. What evokes kama muta is sudden intensification of a communal sharing (CS) relationship, either CS between the person and another, or CS between observed others. In accord with kama muta theory, we hypothesize that a kama muta response to cuteness results from a sudden feeling of CS with the cute target. In colloquial terms, the perceiver adores the cute kittens and their heart goes out to them. When a person perceives cute targets interacting affectionately – that is, intensifying CS between them – this should strengthen a kama muta response. We experimentally investigated these predictions in two studies ( N = 356). Study 1 revealed that videos of cute targets evoked significantly more kama muta than videos of targets that were not particularly cute. Study 2, pre-registered, found that, as hypothesized, when cute targets interacted affectionately they evoked more kama muta and were humanized more than when they were not interacting. We measured the level of kama muta by self-reports of sensations and signs and of feelings labeled heartwarming, being moved , and being touched . Participants’ ratings of kama muta were positively correlated with reported cuteness. In addition, as in our previous research on kama muta elicited by other types of stimuli, trait empathic concern predicted kama muta responses and perceived cuteness. The studies thus provide first evidence that cute stimuli evoke the heartwarming emotion of kama muta.

Tears of joy, aesthetic chills and heartwarming feelings: Physiological correlates of Kama Muta

“…In addition, kama muta is assumed to motivate communal action such as hugging, taking care, or helping others and it is often labeled with terms such as moved, touched, or heartwarming in English vernacular (Fiske et al, 2019). The kama muta framework has been supported by several empirical studies in various cultures (Blomster Lyshol, Seibt, & Thomsen, 2020;Seibt et al, 2018;Steinnes, Blomster, Seibt, Zickfeld, & Fiske, 2019;Zickfeld, Schubert, Seibt, Blomster, et al, 2019;.…”

A Model of Positive Tears

“…In the previous studies we also included cute objects in this category as such agents might be perceived as especially beautiful. Importantly, cute agents have been linked with carefulness and tender feelings (e.g., Steinnes, Blomster, Seibt, Zickfeld, & Fiske, 2019), thus they could possibly be considered part of the affectionate tears category. This proposition should be tested more systematically in future studies.…”

The Sudden Devotion Emotion: Kama Muta and the Cultural Practices Whose Function Is to Evoke It

“…1. It is evoked by the perception of a sudden intensification of a CSR between the participant and another being (human, animal, deity) or entity (the earth, the cosmos), or by the observation of a sudden intensification of a CSR between third parties (Schubert, Zickfeld, Seibt, & Fiske, 2016; Seibt, Schubert, Zickfeld, & Fiske, 2017; Seibt, Schubert, Zickfeld, Zhu, et al, 2017; Steinnes, 2017; see also Janicke & Oliver, 2015; Kuehnast, Wagner, Wassiliwizky, Jacobsen, & Menninghaus, 2014; Menninghaus, Wagner, Hanich, & Wassiliwizky, 2015). “Intensification” may consist of a rapid temporal increase in the strength of a CS bond; the creation of a new CS bond; or the figure-ground contrast that occurs when memory, anticipation, or imagining of CS springs forth against a background of separation, longing, or loss.…”

“…2. It is a positive emotion in five respects (Schubert et al, 2016; Seibt, Schubert, Zickfeld, & Fiske, 2017; Seibt, Schubert, Zickfeld, Zhu, et al, 2017; Steinnes, 2017):…”

“…3. When it is mild, many people experience few or no sensations, but when it is strongly felt, most (but not all) people usually have some of the following sensations and/or show some of the following signs (Schubert et al, 2016; Seibt, Schubert, Zickfeld, & Fiske, 2017; Seibt, Schubert, Zickfeld, Zhu, et al, 2017; Steinnes, 2017; Zickfeld, 2015; Zickfeld, Schubert, Seibt, & Fiske, 2017; see also Benedek & Kaernbach, 2011; Wassiliwizky, Jacobsen, Heinrich, Schneiderbauer, & Menninghaus, 2017; Wassiliwizky, Wagner, Jacobsen, & Menninghaus, 2015):…”