![]() Meanwhile, kawaii in Japanese is used to describe fashions, sweets, and other items that have nothing to do with the baby schema. Since the theory was simple, it soon became widely known. For example, he posited that whether the object is animate or not, humans can get a warm and fuzzy feeling-and importantly, a desire to nurture or protect the object-from a form where the head is larger than the body, the forehead is broad and juts out, and large eyes occupy the lower half of the face: the “baby schema.”Įmpirical studies of the baby schema began in the 1960s, and this research confirmed Lorenz’s hunch. ![]() In a paper published in 1943, animal behavior researcher Konrad Lorenz put forward the idea that humans have an inborn tendency to view certain physical forms as endearing-in other words, kawaii. I believed that if I could zoom in on what makes people feel that something is kawaii, I could use experimental psychology to try to understand the phenomenon. I therefore decided to change my approach, theorizing that everyone who perceives something as kawaii must be in a similar state of mind, as otherwise they would not be able to communicate using that descriptor. What’s kawaii to one person may not be so at all to the next. Trying to sort out the characteristics of kawaii brings one to a dead end right away because there are so many exceptions. Many papers have been published on the subject of kawaii, but my book is the first to ever explore the topic systematically from the perspective of science. In my latest book, Kawaii no chikara: Jikken de saguru sono shinri (Exploring the Psychology of Kawaii Through Experiments), I explain why I began this research. I have been using experimental psychology to study kawaii for about 10 years now. Experimental psychology is a science that uses data-based methods to explore general principles of human thought and behavior. Science is helpful for working out complex phenomena and explaining them to the public. ![]() ” But ideally, we should be able to give a proper verbal explanation of kawaii if we want to acquaint people around the world with this aspect of our pop culture. The same goes for kawaii: Shown examples exemplifying the quality, they will often say “Yes, I can see that this is kawaii. And while in Japanese kawaii is pronounced with the final syllable extended into a prolonged “ee” sound, most people abroad pronounce it “kawai,” as in “Hawaii.”īut getting back to what kawaii actually is, how should we go about explaining it to foreign friends? Is it the same as “cute?” In Japan, people generally place more importance on experiencing things through sight and sound and are not in the habit of describing them logically in words. Japanese are understandably proud when their culture is received positively abroad, but in relative terms, not many people living outside Japan are familiar with the word kawaii. Once “ cosplay” events, featuring adults decked out as their favorite anime characters, began to spread abroad, Japan’s kawaii started to become the world’s “kawaii.” But once those girls reached adulthood, kawaii became firmly linked with fashions, soft plush toys, and “character” goods and made a place for itself in indigenous pop culture. Back then, many people were bothered by the paucity of vocabulary of girls exclaiming “ Kawaii!” at every turn. The focus on kawaii in Japanese culture supposedly began with young women in the 1970s. But when you stop to think about it, what exactly does kawaii mean, and why is it viewed as something positive? Everything kawaii-from babies and puppies to clothing, interior goods, and even scrumptious sweet treats-feels cheerful and fun. Kawaii is one of the most frequently used words by Japanese today. Analyzing Kawaii from the Scientific Perspective
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