科學家揭示爲什麼看到可愛的東西你會想去捏一捏

Scientists may have found a reason why you can't stop pinching the cheeks of adorable babies.

科學家們可能已經找到了爲什麼你會忍不住捏可愛寶寶的臉頰的原因。

Researchers at Yale University describe this phenomenon as "cute aggression."

耶魯大學的研究人員將這種現象描述爲“可愛侵略性”。

They studied the brains of 52 participants via electrophysiology and found that people have a strong reaction to pets and humans with more infantile features.

他們通過電生理學研究了52名參與者的大腦，發現人們對寵物和有更多嬰兒特徵的人類反應強烈。

"The Yale researchers initially found that people reported feeling cute aggression more in response to baby animals versus adult animals," Katherine Stavropoulos, a special education professor at the University of California, wrote in a press release.

加州大學特殊教育專業教授凱瑟琳·斯塔夫羅普洛斯在一篇新聞稿中寫道：“耶魯大學的研究人員最初發現，與成年動物相比，人們對幼小動物的可愛侵略性更強烈。”

"But even beyond that, people reported feeling cute aggression more in response to picture of human babies that had been digitally enhanced to appear more infantile, and therefore 'more cute,' by enlarging features like their eyes, cheeks, and foreheads."

“但除此之外，當人們看到經過數碼強化處理，更嬰兒化的嬰兒照片時，他們的可愛侵略感也更強烈。這些照片通過放大他們的眼睛、臉頰和額頭等面部特徵顯得更'可愛'。”

The study also saw that respondents felt more overwhelmed and wanted to take care of cute baby animals over less cute adult animals.

該研究還發現，與不太可愛的成年動物相比，被調查者會不可抑制地更想照顧可愛的小動物。

Stavropoulos argues that our "cute aggression," the feeling that something is so adorable you can't take it, serves as an evolutionary function.

斯塔夫羅普洛斯認爲，我們的“可愛侵略性”是一種感覺，即認爲某樣東西太可愛了，你無法接受，這是一種進化功能。

"For example, if you find yourself incapacitated by how cute a baby is -- so much so that you simply can't take care of it -- that baby is going to starve," Stavropoulos said.

斯塔夫羅普洛斯說：“舉例來說，如果你發現自己無法忍受寶寶的可愛程度，以至於你根本無法照顧它，那麼寶寶就會餓死。”

"Cute aggression may serve as a tempering mechanism that allows us to function and actually take care of something we might first perceive as overwhelmingly cute."

“可愛攻擊性可以作爲一種調節機制，讓我們能夠正常生活，並真正照顧那些我們一開始覺得超級可愛的東西。”