Why You Want to Squeeze Adorable Babies and Puppies人為什么愛捏萌寶萌犬

凱爾西·伯雷森　郭碩/譯

When my youngest sister was a baby， I recall telling my mom through gritted1 teeth： “Ugh， shes so cute， I cant stand it. I just want to squeeze2 her！”

記得小妹妹還是個寶寶時，我曾咬著牙跟媽媽說：“呀，太可愛了吧，忍不住想捏一捏！”

Years later， I still feel this overwhelming pull to squeeze adorable things： when my son belly-laughs， when my puppy rests his perfect little head on my lap or when I think about Baby Dory3.

多年后，看見可愛的東西我還是有一種抑制不住想捏一捏的沖動，比如兒子捧腹大笑的時候，狗狗可愛的小腦瓜搭在我腿上的時候，或者想到幼年多莉的時候。

This burning desire to playfully squeeze， bite， pinch or growl4 at cute things—without any actual intention to harm—is called “cute aggression.” Social psychologist Oriana Aragón and her research team at Yale University gave this phenomenon its name.

社會心理學家奧麗婭娜·阿拉貢和她耶魯大學的研究團隊把這種看見萌萌的東西就迫切地想要捏一捏、咬一咬、掐一掐或低吼一聲，但實際上無意給對方帶來傷害的現象命名為“萌系攻擊沖動”。

Lest5 you feel like some kind of weirdo6 for feeling this way， it turns out cute aggression is actually quite common. Aragón estimates that 50% to 60% of the population experiences it.

不必為擁有這種感受而覺得自己有點兒怪，其實萌系攻擊沖動非常普遍。據阿拉貢估測，50%到60%的人都有過這樣的沖動。

Cute aggression is an example of what researchers call “dimorphous7 expression”—when your internal feelings and the outward expression of those feelings seem to contradict one another. Other examples might include crying during joyful moments， like a wedding or the birth of a child， or laughing during an uncomfortable conversation.

萌系攻擊沖動是研究人員所說的“二態表達”的一個例子。二態表達是指人的內在情緒和外在表現看似矛盾的現象。其他的例子還有在婚禮、寶寶出生等場合喜極而泣，或是在別扭的談話中哈哈大笑。

Aragón and her Yale colleagues hypothesized that because dimorphous expression seems to occur when a person is overwhelmed with emotion， cute aggression could be a mechanism to help regulate these intense feelings. And they found some evidence to support that.

阿拉貢和她耶魯的同事們推測，既然二態表達似乎是在人情緒激動時才出現，那么萌系攻擊沖動就可能是一種幫助調節強烈感受的機制。他們也找到了一些相應的佐證。

In their study， which was published in 2015， participants viewed photos of babies with more infantile8 features （digitally altered to have larger eyes and cheeks and smaller noses） and less infantile features （manipulated to have smaller eyes and cheeks and larger noses）. Then they were asked to rate how strongly they agreed with statements such as “When I look at this baby， I feel like I am overwhelmed by very strong positive feelings”; “I feel like pinching those cheeks”; and “I feel like I want to take care of it.” Participants were also asked to gauge9 their emotional state before and after they were presented with the images.

在他們2015年發表的一項研究中，被試人員觀看了嬰兒特征較為明顯的寶寶照片（通過數字化手段呈現出大眼睛、胖臉頰、小鼻子的寶寶）和嬰兒特征不夠明顯的寶寶照片（把照片中的寶寶眼睛變小、臉頰變瘦、鼻子變大）。然后要求他們判斷對一些表述的認同程度，比如，“看到這個寶寶有非常強烈的正面感受”“想掐一掐這些臉蛋兒”“感覺想照顧這個寶寶” 。被試人員還應要求評判自己觀看照片前后的情緒狀態。

Researchers found that the people who experienced feelings of cute aggression did “come down off the ‘cute high faster，” Aragón， now an assistant professor at Clemson University， told HuffPost. “They got really amped up10 with the cuteness” and then returned to a baseline state more quickly than those who didnt experience cute aggression.

研究人員發現，體會過萌系攻擊沖動的人的確能夠“更快從‘萌嗨的情緒中恢復過來”，目前在克萊姆森大學任助理教授的阿拉貢接受《赫芬頓郵報》采訪時說道，“他們看見可愛的東西會非常興奮”，但是恢復到常態要比那些沒有體會過萌系攻擊沖動的人更快一些。

“It might be that this countervailing11 expression helps to tamp12 down the experienced emotion，” Aragón said.

“可能是這種抗衡式的表達有助于平復他們的情緒。” 阿拉貢如是說。

From an evolutionary standpoint， this makes sense. Research has established that infantile features encourage caretaking behaviors in adults.

從進化論的角度看，這也有其道理。研究已經證實，嬰兒的幼年特征可以激發成年人的照顧行為。

“Ultimately， the babys well-being is served by cuteness eliciting both expressions of care and of aggression， because if the expresser is no longer incapacitated with overwhelming positive affect， that person may be better able to care for the baby，” the authors wrote in the study.

“歸根結底，激發照顧和攻擊這兩種行為的可愛特征能夠讓嬰兒得到好的照料，因為受激發者若得以表達強烈的積極情緒，可能會更好地照顧寶寶。”研究人員在報告中寫道。

Interestingly， Aragón and her team also found that people who experience cute aggression are more likely to express emotion in a dimorphous manner across a variety of emotionally charged situations. In other words， those who want to pinch a babys chubby cheeks tend to be the type to cry at weddings， too.

有趣的是，阿拉貢和她的團隊還發現，體會過萌系攻擊沖動的人更有可能在各種心情激動的場合以二態的方式表達情緒。換言之，那些想掐一掐寶寶胖乎乎臉蛋兒的人也會是婚禮上哭泣的那一類。

Katherine Stavropoulos， a clinical psychologist and researcher at the University of California， Riverside， has also studied cute aggression. She primarily studies brain activity in kids with and without autism13， with a focus on the reward system.

加利福尼亞大學河濱分校研究員、臨床心理學家凱瑟琳·斯塔夫羅普洛斯對萌系攻擊沖動也有研究。她主要鉆研自閉癥兒童和非自閉癥兒童的大腦活動，專注于大腦的獎勵系統。

Stavropoulos co-authored a study， published in 2018， that looked at what happens in the brain when you feel cute aggression. They ultimately found that the phenomenon involves both the brains emotional system and its reward system， which is responsible for feelings of wanting and pleasure.

斯塔夫羅普洛斯作為共同作者參與完成了一項2018年發表的研究，該研究探索了人們在感受到萌系攻擊沖動時大腦的活動。結果顯示，萌系攻擊沖動與大腦的情緒系統和獎勵系統都有關聯，獎勵系統負責的是激發渴望感和愉悅感。

In the study， participants looked at images of “cute” and “less cute” babies （the same ones Aragón used in her study）， and “cute” and “less cute” animals （i.e.， baby animals vs. adult animals）. After viewing the photos， the participants rated how strongly they agreed with statements expressing cute aggression （e.g. “Its so cute I want to squeeze it！”） and feelings of overwhelm （“Its so cute I cant handle it”）， among others. Electrode caps14 measured electrical activity in different parts of the participants brains.

在該研究中，被試人員觀看了“可愛”和“不夠可愛”的寶寶照片（和阿拉貢研究中使用的照片相同），以及“可愛”和“不夠可愛”的動物照片（即動物幼崽和成年動物的照片）。看完照片后，被試人員評估了自己對萌系攻擊沖動相關描述的認同程度（如，“太可愛了，好想捏一捏！”），對強烈情緒相關描述的認同程度（“可愛得讓人受不了”），等等。還使用電極帽測量了被試人員大腦不同部位的腦電活動。

“The people that rated agreeing with the feeling of， ‘Its so cute， I want to squeeze it， were the people with the most reward-related brain activity，” Stavropoulos said.

“那些認同‘太可愛了，好想捏一捏感受的人也是大腦活動中獎勵系統最為活躍的人。”斯塔夫羅普洛斯說。

Stavropoulos hopes to continue research in this area to see how people with autism and postpartum15 depression experience cute aggression， and what differences might exist between people who have kids or pets and people who dont. For example， what if cat owners felt more cute aggression toward kittens， and parents （or people who want to have children） felt more cute aggression toward babies， than those without kids did？

斯塔夫羅普洛斯希望繼續在該領域深耕，探究自閉癥患者和產后抑郁患者是如何經歷萌系攻擊沖動的，以及有孩子或寵物的人與沒有孩子或寵物的人之間有何區別。比如，養貓的人是否看見小貓咪時感受到更多萌系攻擊沖動，而有孩子的人（或期望有孩子的人）相比沒有孩子的人，是否看見小寶寶時感受到更多萌系攻擊沖動。

“Its interesting to me， the role that that experience could play in cute aggression or， just in general， our development of these overwhelming emotions，” Stavropoulos said.

“這種養育體驗在萌系攻擊沖動中，或者概括地說，在這些強烈情緒的形成中起到了什么作用，對此我很感興趣。”斯塔夫羅普洛斯說道。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者；單位：天津鐵道職業技術學院）