The science behind 'gigil'

 

Ano nga ba talaga ang "gigil"? Here's a surprisingly scientific answer.

 

That energetic feeling that makes you want to pinch a cute baby's cheeks or simply cry tears of joy may be part of a mechanism that helps people calm down after experiencing positive emotions.

 

Yale psychologist Oriana Aragon indicated this could partially explain why people have "negative and aggressive" responses to positive emotions, The Washington Post reported.

 

"It took me a long time, a lot of experiments and a lot of work, to say: yes, people are actually feeling positive [emotions] but expressing negative [responses], and do so across a variety of situations," Aragon was quoted in the report as saying.

 

Calming down

 

Aragon said their research suggested inherently negative reactions such as tears of joy could help people calm down from emotional highs.

 

"We really want emotional homeostasis. We want a happy, middle spot. Extreme is not good. It's hard on our bodies," she said.

 

The results of the study are to be published on Psychological Science.

 

Researchers asked 143 participants questions including whether they cry when seeing loved ones reunited or while watching the happiest moments of movies.

 

Participants were also asked if they cry when holding an "extremely cute baby" if they "have the urge to squeeze his or her little fat legs."

 

Aggressive response

 

It was learned that people who express "negative" or aggressive responses in one scenario were likely to do it in another. For example, as those who cry at their child's graduation were more likely to want to also want to pinch a baby's cheeks.

 

On the other hand, Aragon noted not everyone has such reactions, which take place "when people are overwhelmed with emotions."

 

In the study, nearly 300 participants were shown pictures of babies, altered to make them look more or less cute.

 

Cuter babies were viewed more positively and elicited responses such as "I want to pinch those cheeks!" or telling the baby, through gritted teeth, "I want to eat you up!"

 

Feelings measured

 

When researchers measured people's feelings immediately after viewing the photos and then five minutes later, they found people who had aggressive or negative reactions to positive emotions recovered better from their emotional highs.

 

These people also got closer to an emotional equilibrium than people who had no interest.

 

Quoting Aragon, the Washington Post report said "those inherently negative reactions—tears of joy, for instance—may help people calm down from their emotional highs."

 

The report also said such a concept is likely more universal than cultural.

 

Aragon had asked language professors if different cultures had expressions or words for such reactions to babies, along the lines of "you're so cute, I want to eat you up with a spoon!"

 

In Filipino culture

 

"In Tagalog, 'gigil' refers to "gritting of teeth and the urge to pinch or squeeze," the researchers said.

 

In 2013, US scientists also tried to learn why cuteness would inspire aggression.

 

Yet, the "gigil" phenomenon does not include an intent to harm, according to a study by two Yale University psychologists.

 

“Some things are so cute that we just can't stand it,” said Rebecca Dyer, who with Oriana Aragon carried out the study, according to Scientific American.

 

'Cute aggression'

 

In their study, Dyer and Aragon showed study participants slide shows of cute, funny, or normal animal photographs. Participants held bubble wrap and were instructed to pop as many or as few bubbles as they wished.

 

"People watching the cute slide show popped significantly more bubbles than those viewing the funny or control pictures, according to results presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual meeting in New Orleans," Scientific American said.

 

Yet, Aragon said "cute aggression" does not mean people actually mean harm. "Rather the response could be protective, or it could be the brain's way of tamping down or venting extreme feelings of giddiness and happiness. The scientists are currently conducting additional studies to determine what drives the need to squeeze," Scientific American concluded. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News