The construct of cuteness: A validity study for measuring content and evoked emotions on social media.

ABSTRACT: Social media users are often exposed to cute content that evokes emotional reactions and influences them to feel or behave certain ways. The cuteness phenomenon in social media has been scarcely studied despite its prevalence and potential to spread quickly and affect large audiences. The main framework for understanding cuteness and emotions related to cuteness outside of social media is baby schema (having juvenile characteristics), which triggers parental instincts. We propose that baby schema is a necessary but not sufficient component of explaining what constitutes cuteness and how people react to it in the social media context. Cute social media content may also have characteristics that evoke approach motivations (a desire to interact with an entity, generally with the expectation o

SUBMITTER: Golonka EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10020712 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature