Cute Aggression

Identified by Yale psychologist Oriana R. Aragón and colleagues Margaret S. Clark, Rebecca L. Dyer, and John A. Bargh in their 2015 study "Dimorphous Expressions of Positive Emotion," published in Psychological Science. The research demonstrated that extremely positive experiences produce intense emotions that generate both positive expressions (smiles) and expressions normally reserved for negative emotions (tears, aggression). Aragón hypothesized that cute aggression—the urge to squeeze or bite adorable things—helps regulate overwhelming positive feelings. The phenomenon affects 50–60% of the population and represents dimorphous expression, where intense emotions trigger seemingly contradictory responses.