Why We Become Happy When We See Cats

Many people love cats to the point where they feel happy just by looking at them,
and even feel the urge to "hold them."
Why do we become happy whenever we see cats?
The mere sight of a cat releases the “love hormone”
When people see something cute, such as a cat or a baby,
their midbrain is stimulated and releases "dopamine."
Dopamine, also known as the "happiness hormone,"
is one of the neurotransmitters
that is released when people fall in love
and is known to play a role in making them feel good.
Because of this, people not only become less aggressive when they see cats,
but also show signs of attachment,
such as hugging or caring.
Cats are cute also because they look like human babies
The reason why we love cats is
because they have similar physical characteristics as human babies.
In fact, cats have big eyes and round faces and bodies,
just like human babies.
But these characteristics are common not only in cats and human babies,
but also in baby mammals,
and this is referred to as “baby schema.”
“Baby schema” is a word that refers to a baby's appearance or physical characteristics
and the term was coined by Konrad Lorenz, an animal behaviorist.
The typical baby schema features include
big forehead and eyes, small nose, big head compared to the body, chubby cheeks and legs, and a soft-looking feeling.
Experiments on “baby schema”
Melanie Glocker's article* suggests that
people perceive creatures with
the characteristics of the baby schema as cute.
(*Baby Schema in Infant Faces Induces Cuteness Perception and Motivation for Caretaking in Adults/2012.1.18)
Melanie conducted an experiment on 122 undergraduates at Drexel University in the U.S.
using pictures of two babies with altered eyes, nose, and mouth.
She first placed the original photo of the baby’s face in the center.
To the left was the baby photo modified to have fewer baby schema features,
(long face, small eyes, big nose and mouth)
and to the right was the baby photo modified to exhibit strong baby schema traits.
(large round face, big eyes, small nose and mouth)
As a result, people perceived that the picture on the right was cuter than the one on the left,
and interestingly, among the participants in the experiment, women found the children’s faces much cuter than men did.
Through such results, we can also interpret from an evolutionary perspective
why baby mammals are born this way.
Stephanie D. Preston, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan in the U.S., said that the baby schema,
is a common feature seen in many mammals that need parental care until maturity.
In other words, because baby creatures could die in the wild if they weren't cared for,
they evolved to look cute and to stimulate protective instincts so that they would survive if they were to be found.
Adult cats continue to possess baby-like features
Such baby-schema features mostly disappear
as baby mammals grow up.
This is because they come to be able to survive on their own once they become adults.
However, cats don't lose their cuteness even when they become grown-ups.
This is because cats’ faces still retain baby-schema traits even after becoming adult cats. This is called “neoteny.”
Neoteny refers to the retention of baby-like features in adult animals
and adult cats have large eyes, small nose and mouth, and round head,
just as they did when they were kittens.
Due to such physical characteristics of cats,
we have no choice but to feel that they’re cute
regardless of their age or appearance.