Featured Image Credit: Lobmaier et al
Topics: Science
Sara Keenan
All babies are adorable, right? But let's be honest, you probably find some just a bit more cute than others. Don't feel bad—there’s science behind why you feel that way.
A new study has delved into the subtle differences in how we perceive baby cuteness, and the results are eye-opening (and maybe a bit controversial).
It turns out that your brain might be wired to find certain babies more appealing based on things you wouldn’t expect—like your age, gender, or even whether you're ovulating!
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It was found that young women (19-26 years old) were more sensitive to differences in infant cuteness than men (19-26 and 53-60 years old).
Women aged 45 to 51 years performed at the level of the young women, whereas cuteness sensitivity in women age 53 to 60 years was not different from that of men.
There has been more research into what people find the cutest in babies - generally, people like a big head, big eyes, chubby cheeks and a round body.
But not everyone is equally sensitive to what's deemed 'cuteness'.
In the studies, researchers created composite images from several different babies, and then with some of the images, they manipulated them to be cuter - rounder and chubbier.
They then asked people to look at both versions of the image and decide which was cuter.
Results found that generally speaking, women were better at selecting the cuter baby than men, and they were even better if they were ovulating, or if they were on hormonal contraceptives.
If they had been through menopause, their 'cuteness sensitivity' actually went down, so they performed the same as men on the test, suggesting that female reproductive hormones are playing a role in how we perceive babies, and why we think they're cute or not.
So, which one did you choose in the image above?
Well, the image on the right is the one that has been manipulated to be stereotypically cuter.
Is that what you chose?