{"id":51524,"date":"2020-05-15T20:51:08","date_gmt":"2020-05-15T17:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/?p=51524"},"modified":"2022-10-28T00:26:36","modified_gmt":"2022-10-27T21:26:36","slug":"watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/","title":{"rendered":"Study: Watching Cute Cats and Dogs Is Good for Your Brain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kawaii<\/em>. The Japanese say the word ‘cute<\/em>‘ often, and enjoy doing it. They also watch a plethora of heartwarming anime movies and series, with charming characters that trigger unstoppable giggles.<\/p>\n

What do the two have in common? You’d notice that the Japanese are among the longest-living in the world<\/a>. And recent research may explain why their love of watching cute, animated characters<\/strong> contributes to their well-being.<\/p>\n

Why Does Watching Cute Things Make a Positive Impact on You?<\/h2>\n

Nitto et al. performed inspiring research in 2012 that suggests why images of adorable characters enhance a person’s wellness. The research team penned the article<\/a> The power of kawaii: Viewing cute images promotes careful behaviour and narrows attentional focus<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The researchers first formulated a definition for cute<\/strong>. They deemed it to be a person who is baby-like, with a large head compared with the rest of its body. They wanted to know if the pictures did more than merely an enhanced mood. Hence, they tracked participants’ task performance to see if looking at cute pictures improved it.<\/p>\n

After sorting images according to their cuteness levels, participants played a game requiring manual ability and focus<\/strong>. The researchers found that the participants who watched cute pictures did better than those who didn’t.<\/p>\n

The implications for job performance are clear: people who have access to all things Kawaii complete their tasks better than those who don’t and have higher productivity<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

How Does Watching Cute Things Benefit Your Brain and Mental Health?<\/h2>\n

\"Watching<\/p>\n

If you are still of the opinion that watching videos of adorable animals is a waste of time, further research may prove you wrong. Immersing yourself in the world of Kawaii does wonders.<\/p>\n

Promotes Marital Bliss<\/h3>\n

James McNulty of Florida State University led a research team that found that cuteness enhanced people’s contentment with marriage<\/strong>. He made 144 couples who had been married for less than five years complete marital satisfaction surveys.<\/p>\n

The participants of this study<\/a> then viewed a constant stream of images three times a week for about 11\/2 months. While one stream watched cute photos that included their better halves, the other viewed pictures of their partners paired with buttons. The group with cute animals paired with their partners<\/strong> also had better responses to them. They were more content with their marriages as well.<\/p>\n

Improvements in Mood and More Significant Stress Response<\/h3>\n

Researcher Barbara Fredrickson found<\/a> that lifting mood broadens a person’s perspective. She called it the “Inducing Positive Effect.” That results in higher positivity, better resource building, and resistance to stress. Anything that triggers such a response will work, but cute photos fit the bill best. The researchers found they trigger upward positivity spirals.<\/p>\n

Videos Are Great Mood-Changers<\/h3>\n

And there’s more proof that watching adorable images helps<\/strong>. While gratitude journaling and loving-kindness meditations have a positive effect on mood, positive videos have the most significant impact<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A study found<\/a> that they work better than other enhancers to induce positive emotions, and can cause what the researchers call Upward Positivity Spirals.<\/p>\n

So the next time stress hits, watch a cute video, or look at an adorable puppy picture<\/strong>. You may find yourself doing better work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kawaii. The Japanese say the word ‘cute‘ often, and enjoy doing it. They also watch a plethora of heartwarming anime movies and series, with charming characters that trigger unstoppable giggles. What do the two have in common? You’d notice that the Japanese are among the longest-living in the world. And recent research may explain why […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":51548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","osh_disable_topbar_sticky":"default","osh_disable_header_sticky":"default","osh_sticky_header_style":"default","osh_sticky_header_effect":"","osh_custom_sticky_logo":0,"osh_custom_retina_sticky_logo":0,"osh_custom_sticky_logo_height":0,"osh_background_color":"","osh_links_color":"","osh_links_hover_color":"","osh_links_active_color":"","osh_links_bg_color":"","osh_links_hover_bg_color":"","osh_links_active_bg_color":"","osh_menu_social_links_color":"","osh_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,10,12],"tags":[53,110,41,255],"class_list":["post-51524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animals","category-health-and-wellness","category-mental-health-and-wellbeing","tag-animals","tag-brain","tag-emotions","tag-mood","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"\nStudy: Watching Cute Cats and Dogs Is Good for Your Brain<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It turns out that watching cute cats and dogs is beneficial for your brain and mental health, and there are some good science-backed reasons for that.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Study: Watching Cute Cats and Dogs Is Good for Your Brain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It turns out that watching cute cats and dogs is beneficial for your brain and mental health, and there are some good science-backed reasons for that.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Life Advancer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lifeadvancer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michelle.liew.9619\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-15T17:51:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-27T21:26:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Watching-Cute-Cats-and-Dogs.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"567\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michelle Liew, B.A.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LifeAdvancer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LifeAdvancer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michelle Liew, B.A.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Study: Watching Cute Cats and Dogs Is Good for Your Brain","description":"It turns out that watching cute cats and dogs is beneficial for your brain and mental health, and there are some good science-backed reasons for that.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Study: Watching Cute Cats and Dogs Is Good for Your Brain","og_description":"It turns out that watching cute cats and dogs is beneficial for your brain and mental health, and there are some good science-backed reasons for that.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/","og_site_name":"Life Advancer","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lifeadvancer\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michelle.liew.9619","article_published_time":"2020-05-15T17:51:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-10-27T21:26:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":850,"height":567,"url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Watching-Cute-Cats-and-Dogs.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Michelle Liew, B.A.","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@LifeAdvancer","twitter_site":"@LifeAdvancer","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michelle Liew, B.A.","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/"},"author":{"name":"Michelle Liew, B.A.","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4ce202d4d3dcf50234959a34390b9abe"},"headline":"Study: Watching Cute Cats and Dogs Is Good for Your Brain","datePublished":"2020-05-15T17:51:08+00:00","dateModified":"2022-10-27T21:26:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/"},"wordCount":538,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Watching-Cute-Cats-and-Dogs.jpg","keywords":["animals","brain","emotions","mood"],"articleSection":["Animals","Health & Wellness","Mental Health & Wellbeing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/","name":"Study: Watching Cute Cats and Dogs Is Good for Your Brain","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Watching-Cute-Cats-and-Dogs.jpg","datePublished":"2020-05-15T17:51:08+00:00","dateModified":"2022-10-27T21:26:36+00:00","description":"It turns out that watching cute cats and dogs is beneficial for your brain and mental health, and there are some good science-backed reasons for that.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Watching-Cute-Cats-and-Dogs.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Watching-Cute-Cats-and-Dogs.jpg","width":850,"height":567,"caption":"Watching Cute Cats and Dogs"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/watching-cute-cats-and-dogs-brain\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Study: Watching Cute Cats and Dogs Is Good for Your Brain"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/","name":"Life Advancer","description":"Your Guide to Life Improvement","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#organization","name":"Life Advancer","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lifeadvancer-sticky-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lifeadvancer-sticky-logo-white.png","width":300,"height":58,"caption":"Life Advancer"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lifeadvancer\/","https:\/\/x.com\/LifeAdvancer","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/life_advancer\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/lifeadvancer\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/Lifeadvancers"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4ce202d4d3dcf50234959a34390b9abe","name":"Michelle Liew, B.A.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Michelle-Liew-Avatar.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Michelle-Liew-Avatar.jpg","caption":"Michelle Liew, B.A."},"description":"Michelle Liew is an English teacher and a professional writer with over 20 years of experience. She earned a Bachelor of Arts (English and Literature) from the National Institute of Education\/Nanyang Technological University of Singapore. With an ABRSM Grade 8 certificate, Michelle has taught English language, literature, and music in Singapore schools for over 12 years. During her career as an educator, she has also worked with children with special needs in both mainstream schools and those for special learners. This vast teaching experience allows her to share valuable advice on parenting, child psychology, and education with her readers. Michelle has been published on websites like The Mighty and HubPages and runs two personal blogs: Getting Literal, where she shares her thoughts about writing and poetry, and Pets Aware, a blog about animals. She has a broad range of interests that include literature, history, philosophy, human relationships, health, and psychology. When Michelle is not busy writing her heart out, you will find her tinkering jazz tunes on her piano. She loves anything that helps her to grow as a person, including her pet terriers, Misty and Cloudy. Feel free to follow Michelle on Facebook and Linkedin.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michelle.liew.9619","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/michelle-liew-72435853\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/author\/michelle-l\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}