The Power of Kawaii: Viewing Cute Images Promotes a Careful Behavior and Narrows Attentional Focus (Extract)

Kawaii things not only make us happier, but also affect our behavior. This study shows that viewing cute things improves subsequent performance in tasks that require behavioral carefulness, possibly by narrowing the breadth of attentional focus. This effect is not specific to tasks related to caregiving or social interaction. For future applications, cute objects may be used as a facile emotion elicitor. Cute features not only make objects more user friendly and approachable[3], but also induce careful behavioral tendencies in the users, which is beneficial in specific situations, such as driving and office work.