The Neuroscience of Cute to Monstrous
The Neurobiology Behind Our Response to Cuteness and Its Role in Potential Manipulation
The People's Scientist · Dr. Stephanie Caligiuri
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (sphinx.acast.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
Today in Episode 98, I talk about the neuroscience of cuteness. Cuteness seems to be defined by the baby schema: large eyes, round small face, and a sense of vulnerability. Cuteness seems to recruit the nucleus accumbens of the brain to reinforce caregiving and protective actions. But, on the spectrum of cuteness, to the far right, it can lead to monstrous aesthetics and ethics. Think of violence being tolerated because it is done by cute cartoon characters. But, the scary thing is, this may also be used to reduce the salience of violence of negative information in other realms. Interested? Tune in for details.
Want to buy me a coffee to say thanks for the episode? You can do so via Venmo or Patreon below.
Venmo ID: Steph-Cal
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/DrSCaligiuri
Follow me on social media to see the papers I cite in this week's episode:
IG: Dr.SCaligiuri
FB: ThePeoplesScientist
Twitter: DrSCaligiuri
Linkedin: Stephanie Caligiuri
TikTok: Dr.SCaligiuri
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.