Introduction
Cute Aggression is the feeling one gets when they see a cute object and feel as if they want to squeeze the life out of it. This feeling causes the expression, “It’s so cute, I just want to squeeze it to death!” I chose this topic because I’ve always been super curious as to why people, kids especially, hug animals and feel as if they need to squeeze the animal to the point it can not breathe, out of an outward release of happiness. Cute aggression is very prominent in female children’s lives, including my own childhood. It use to be present when I was a kid up until my 2nd grade year. Because of my aggressive behavior my cats, at the time, hated me.Composition of ...
Main Chemicals, Compounds, Components
Chemistry's Role
These 9 components are naturally made in different parts of the brain and get spread out through the body. The first four hormones naturally combine to create happiness. The last five naturally combine to create anger step by step.
Dopamine is created in many different places in the brain including the substantia nigra, which helps us move, and the ventral tegmental area, which releases dopamine when we expect a reward or are in a pleasurable situation.
Oxytocin is created in the hypothalamus of your brain and creation depends on the electrical activity of neurons in the hypothalamus. When these neurons are excited, oxytocin gets released into the bloodstream. Serotonin is created mostly in the enterochromaffin cells in the gastrointestinal tract. A small portion of serotonin is released in the brain in the neurons of the raphe nuclei. Endorphins are created in the central nervous system. They are released during laughter or the anticipation of laughter, which then causes the endorphins to spread throughout the body.
CRH (corticotropin releasing hormone) is created in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. This hormone is created and released during stressful situations. ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) is created in the pituitary gland. It gets created and released after the pituitary gland is struck by CRH. Cortisol is created in the adrenal glands. It is released in acute stress situations or in circumstances such as exercising or waking up. Adrenaline is created and released from the adrenal glands. It is made and released after CRH and ACTH affect the adrenal glands. Noradrenaline is created in the adrenal glands. Noradrenaline is created and released after CRH and ACTH affect the adrenal glands.
Background Research
Cute Aggression is the feeling one gets when they witness something cute and that sight fills them with so much happiness and excitement, that they want to hurt the cute object. This is caused because when people see the adorable items, they feel an aching to care and protect that object. But in the end, it is frustrating because they can’t. This is like if a person was in a situation where they have no power or choice to do anything, causing them to feel frustrated and worthless.
When it comes to what is in cute aggression, we must split it into two meanings: cute and aggression . If we take the first part of the term: cute, happiness usually follows. Happiness is a hard emotion to explain, but in our brain the root of all happiness starts in the hippocampus. This weird word is located in the medial temporal lobe of the brain. One of its main jobs is to house our memories. But the hippocampus doesn’t work alone. Its 4 business partner’s include dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins.
Dopamine can be described as the reward system and causes anticipation. It is created in the ventral tegmental area, which releases dopamine when we are expecting a reward. The next one is oxytocin, which causes socialness, empathy, bonds between people, and the wanting to cuddle. It is created in the hypothalamus and is released when the neuron energy is high. Another is serotonin, which determines if your mood is happy or sad. This is created in the raphe nuclei depending on the neurons. Lastly is endorphins, which masks pain in certain situations causing people to say it’s the, “fight or flight” system. They are created in the central nervous system after the anticipation of laughter.
Aggression on the other hand can be put into a category with the emotion of anger. Anger is caused by multiple things, which include: CRH or corticotropin releasing hormone, ACTH or adrenocorticotropic hormone, Cortisol, Adrenaline, and Noradrenaline. The process of anger starts when a wave of emotion activates the amygdala. The wave continues down the line where is than activates the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus releases the hormone CRH which activates the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland than releases the hormone ACTH, which activates the adrenal glands, that located on top of each kidney. Lastly the adrenal glands release stress hormones cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline.
You may be wondering how these two things relate. Cute Aggression is created as a way to get over your emotions. While looking at a cute animal, we feel happiness overwhelm our brains and cause a feeling of anticipation and excitement. As a way to cope with this feeling, our brains send out the opposite emotion so we may be able to heal faster. To sum it up, our brain is telling us to get on with our life. An example of our brain following this process is laughing while crying or being extremely sad.
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About the Author
Marissa Borden is a Junior at Billings Senior High School. Her hobbies include learning, reading, writing, singing, and watching Teen Wolf. In her future, she plans on becoming the next Marvel Superhero, moving to Antarctica with her cat to study penguins, and attending college to explore her interest in zoology.