Why are Pandas cute?

Why are Pandas cute?

Most of us cannot resist the urge to go ‘ awww’ when seeing cute pandas. But have you ever though about why?

Basically, giant pandas remind us of babies, with their big eyes, fluffy bodies, clumsy movements and large heads and so on. These traits are called baby schema, characteristics that are associated with babies and arouse parenting instincts in us, or as Dr. Edgar E. Coons calls it, hedonistic mechanisms.

Big eyes –

The black patches around the panda’s eyes make them seem bigger and draws attention to their eyes, something that holds significant importance in human society. By keeping ‘eye contact’ with them, we feel a stronger sense of connectedness and carry out anthropomorphism on some level.

Fluffy bodies –

Their soft and fluffy bodies do not set off our danger senses as other coverings e.g. scales would, and cause them appear more friendly and huggable. This sets off our ‘cute aggression’, in which we are exposed to too much ‘cute’ stimuli and cannot control our urges to interact with the cute item/animal.

Clumsy movements –

Giant pandas make awkward and clumsy movements that remind us of babies learning to stand up or walk. This appeals to our parental instincts and causes us to feel somewhat protective of them.

Large heads –

Large heads on small bodies appeal to us while small heads on large bodies instill negative emotions in us. Pandas with their large heads thus hold great appeal for us.

Pug noses –

Giant pandas have pug noses, which reminds us of babies as opposed to sharp snouts like those of rats, which turn us off. (Exceptions are dogs, who

Other possible reasons –

There is a very strong ‘panda cuteness rhetoric’, in which everyone around us seems to find pandas incredibly cute and gush over them. This shapes our opinion of pandas as being something cute.

Pandas are very prominent in everyday life compared to other wild animals, appearing in media. Due to exposure effect (where the more exposure we gain to something, the more we like it), others who did not originally find pandas cute would eventually do so.

How about you?

Do you find pandas cute? Why or why not?

Leave your comments below!

 

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