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Kinderschema Puppies, kittens, babies and bears: The science behind cuteness STORY AND PHOTO BY JESSIANNE WRIGHT
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IG, ROUND EYES GAZE UP AT YOU.
The pup has those soft folds of extra skin around the base of his tender, floppy ears and his nose is short on his compact, oval face. It looks like he wears snowshoes—his oversized feet can surely carry him across any stretch of snow—but they give awkward thuds as he wobbles across the floor. Puppies steal the show at most any event. They give us that eyebrow-raising, lower-lip quivering, unbearable desire to simply sit and watch, or even give the little guy a hug. As humans, we find these juvenile canines impossibly cute. But why? Turns out this question emerged in the academic realm years ago. Since the 1940s, scientists and researchers have studied the traits humans identify as adorable. This set of physical features—coined baby schema or kinderschema by Austrian ethologist Konrad Lorenz—includes a round face and big forward-facing eyes, chubby cheeks and floppy limbs. This same criteria applies to pudgy human babies we can’t take our eyes off. The actual science behind cuteness is rooted in evolutionary biology. According to Lorenz’s theory, these traits motivate us to care for and protect anything that exhibits those “cute” characteristics. As a species whose offspring are incredibly vulnerable, it makes sense we have evolved to be particularly sensitive to any indication of youthfulness and need. Humans don’t even distinguish between species, scientists say. Montana State University history grad Oliver Manning studied bears and the evolutionary
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