Whenever I see my cat snuggling up on the sofa, fluffing up before a good day’s sleep, or stretching after one, I experience an overwhelming surge of emotions. I just want to scoop him up and smother his little face with affection. It’s a feeling that completely overpowers me, and I often end up squishing the cat against my better judgment.
By “squishing the cat,” I mean this video that…
As with everything else, there’s a scientific term for this: it’s called “Cute Aggression.”
For the uninitiated, Cute Aggression is the urge some people get to squeeze or playfully bite cute things, albeit without the intent to cause any harm. It’s your body’s way of releasing overwhelming emotions, which are triggered in the reward and emotion centers of your brain when you see or engage with something irresistibly cute—like human babies or cats.
but why do cats trigger such intense emotions in us?
It’s both physiological and psychological. Cats, with their furry, small, soft bodies, big eyes, and round faces, resemble human babies. Over time, they’ve exploited this resemblance, making it their evolutionary jackpot. They’ve even learned to mimic a baby’s cry to get fed by humans, and we’ve been nurturing them ever since.
Cats also share toddler-like personality traits—like their meows, naughtiness, curiosity, and waywardness—which trigger intense joy in their humans. They also have add-on adorable habits that can instantly brighten your day, like purring, making biscuits, and, yes, even knocking things off high surfaces (okay, this can be agonizing in some instances).
So, my science-backed positive emotion conjurer award goes to my cat.
Fingers in symphony 