Too Cute for Words: Cuteness Evokes the Heartwarming Emotion of Kama Muta
Too Cute for Words: Cuteness Evokes the Heartwarming Emotion of Kama Muta
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DOI：
10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00387
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发表时间：
2019-03
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
K. Steinnes;Johanna K Blomster;Beate Seibt;Janis H. Zickfeld;A. Fiske
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
K. Steinnes;Johanna K Blomster;Beate Seibt;Janis H. Zickfeld;A. Fiske
婴儿特征的配置包括大头、大眼睛、小鼻子和低头的嘴巴，构成了英语使用者称之为“可爱”的视觉婴儿图式或 Kindchenschema。与唤起这种情绪的刺激格式塔相反，对可爱所引发的情绪反应却很少进行研究，也许是因为这种情绪在英语、挪威语或德语中没有具体的名称。我们假设可爱通常会唤起 kama muta，一种社会关系情感，在其他情况下通常在英语中被标记为感动或感动、温暖人心、怀旧、爱国情感、被圣灵感动、感觉等等。引起“kama muta”的是公共共享（CS）关系的突然强化，无论是人与他人之间的CS，还是观察到的其他人之间的CS。根据 kama muta 理论，我们假设对可爱的 kama muta 反应是由于突然与可爱的目标产生 CS 感觉而产生的。用通俗的话说，感知者很喜欢这些可爱的小猫，并且为它们倾心。当一个人察觉到可爱的目标在深情地互动时——也就是说，他们之间的亲密感增强——这应该会加强“kama muta”反应。我们在两项研究中通过实验研究了这些预测 (N = 356)。研究 1 显示，可爱目标的视频比不特别可爱的目标视频更能引起更多的 Kama Muta。预先注册的研究 2 发现，正如假设的那样，当可爱的目标亲切地互动时，他们会比不互动时唤起更多的爱欲，并且更加人性化。我们通过自我报告感觉和迹象以及被标记为温暖、感动和感动的感觉来衡量爱欲的水平。参与者对 kama muta 的评分与报告的可爱度呈正相关。此外，正如我们之前对其他类型刺激引起的卡玛穆塔的研究一样，特质共情关注预测了卡玛穆塔反应和感知可爱度。因此，这些研究提供了第一个证据，证明可爱的刺激会唤起 kama muta 的温馨情感。
A configuration of infantile attributes including a large head, large eyes, with a small nose and mouth low on the head comprise the visual baby schema or Kindchenschema that English speakers call “cute.” In contrast to the stimulus gestalt that evokes it, the evoked emotional response to cuteness has been little studied, perhaps because the emotion has no specific name in English, Norwegian, or German. We hypothesize that cuteness typically evokes kama muta, a social-relational emotion that in other contexts is often labeled in English as being moved or touched, heartwarming, nostalgia, patriotic feeling, being touched by the Spirit, the feels, etcetera. What evokes kama muta is sudden intensification of a communal sharing (CS) relationship, either CS between the person and another, or CS between observed others. In accord with kama muta theory, we hypothesize that a kama muta response to cuteness results from a sudden feeling of CS with the cute target. In colloquial terms, the perceiver adores the cute kittens and their heart goes out to them. When a person perceives cute targets interacting affectionately – that is, intensifying CS between them – this should strengthen a kama muta response. We experimentally investigated these predictions in two studies (N = 356). Study 1 revealed that videos of cute targets evoked significantly more kama muta than videos of targets that were not particularly cute. Study 2, pre-registered, found that, as hypothesized, when cute targets interacted affectionately they evoked more kama muta and were humanized more than when they were not interacting. We measured the level of kama muta by self-reports of sensations and signs and of feelings labeled heartwarming, being moved, and being touched. Participants’ ratings of kama muta were positively correlated with reported cuteness. In addition, as in our previous research on kama muta elicited by other types of stimuli, trait empathic concern predicted kama muta responses and perceived cuteness. The studies thus provide first evidence that cute stimuli evoke the heartwarming emotion of kama muta.