The science of cuteness: Where teddy bears' beauty, comfort and care converge.The Journal of Positive Psychology10.1080/17439760.2025.2538890

Abstract: This study examines the attribution of teddy bear cuteness based on visual evaluation of aesthetic, comfort, and care motivation. Using 436 teddy bear photos, the research quantifies the relationship between aesthetic attractivity and comfort attribution, and whether their interaction enhances individuals’ care motivation. The study involved 11,188 French participants, aged from 3 to 92 years old, recruited online. Beauty, comfort, and care values were highly correlated, meaning that visual cuteness of teddy bears relies on a combination of visual attractiveness and comfort attribution that trigger care motivation. Among visual characteristics, perceived softness was identified as the key determinant of cuteness. Participants' age modified preferences patterns, suggesting an influence of stereotypical representations of teddy bears. This study provides a better understanding of the visual determinants of cuteness, and highlights how aesthetic and emotional evaluations of teddy bears influence care behaviors.Description of the data and file structureThis dataset contains the data and code required to replicate analyses in "Teddy bears' cuteness: Where beauty, comfort and care converge" that examines the attribution of teddy bear cuteness based on visual evaluation of aesthetic, comfort, and care motivation. Data provides the results of visual valuation of 436 teddy bear photos by 11,188 French participants, aged from 3 to 92 years old, recruited online from June 2020 to November 2020Morphometric and colorimetric features of teddy bears are also provided, as well as anonymized sociodemographic information about the participants.Files and variables<b>Teddybears data</b>file name : Teddybears_data.csvTeddybears data file contains the morphometric and colorimetric features of the teddybears, their names, source file (URL) and the computed values of beauty, comfort and care.<br><b>Matches</b>file name : Matches.csvMatches data file contains the results of each pairwised comparison matches between two teddybears.<br><b>Participants</b>file name : Participants.csvParticipants data file contains the sociodemographic variables of the participants and other information regarding teddybear ownership.<br><b>Teddy bears' values according to age class</b>file name : Elo_Age_class_all.RDataContains means and SD for Cuteness values of teddy bears according to each age class. This file is required to compute the BRT models comparing cuteness between uner 10 vs. over 60 years.<br><b>Read Me</b>Read me describes each variables contained in the files.Code/softwareR software is required to run the code 'RScript_The_Teddybear_Cuteness.R'All required packages are embeded in the code.This code allow users to compute the analyses and figures published in the related articleRequired data files are 'Matchs.csv', 'Participants.csv', 'Elo_Age_class_all.RData' and 'Teddybears_data.csv'

### 摘要
本研究基于美学、舒适度与关怀动机的视觉评估，探讨泰迪熊可爱度的归因问题。研究使用436张泰迪熊照片，量化了美学吸引力与舒适度归因之间的关联，以及二者的交互作用是否会提升个体的关怀动机。本研究共招募11188名年龄介于3至92岁的法国线上参与者。研究发现，美学、舒适度与关怀评分间存在显著相关，表明泰迪熊的视觉可爱度依赖于能够激发关怀动机的视觉吸引力与舒适度归因的共同作用。在视觉特征中，感知柔软度被确定为可爱度的核心决定因素。参与者年龄会改变偏好模式，提示泰迪熊的刻板印象表征存在影响效应。本研究增进了对可爱度视觉决定因素的理解，并阐明了泰迪熊的美学与情感评价如何影响关怀行为。

### 数据与文件结构说明
本数据集包含复现《泰迪熊的可爱度：美学、舒适度与关怀的交汇点》一文中分析所需的数据与代码，该研究基于美学、舒适度与关怀动机的视觉评估，探讨泰迪熊可爱度的归因问题。本数据集提供了2020年6月至2020年11月间招募的11188名年龄3至92岁的法国线上参与者对436张泰迪熊照片进行视觉评估的结果。此外还包含泰迪熊的形态计量与色度特征，以及参与者的匿名社会人口学信息。

### 文件与变量
<b>泰迪熊数据</b>
文件名：Teddybears_data.csv
该文件包含泰迪熊的形态计量与色度特征、其名称、来源文件（URL）以及美学、舒适度与关怀的计算评分。
<b>配对比较数据</b>
文件名：Matches.csv
该文件包含每两组泰迪熊间的成对比较结果。
<b>参与者数据</b>
文件名：Participants.csv
该文件包含参与者的社会人口学变量，以及与泰迪熊拥有情况相关的其他信息。
<b>按年龄分组的泰迪熊评分</b>
文件名：Elo_Age_class_all.RData
该文件包含各年龄组泰迪熊可爱度评分的均值与标准差（Standard Deviation, SD），可用于构建提升回归树（Boosted Regression Tree, BRT）模型，以比较10岁以下与60岁以上群体间的可爱度差异。
<b>说明文档</b>
Read Me文件会对各文件中包含的变量进行说明。

### 代码与软件
运行代码`RScript_The_Teddybear_Cuteness.R`需要使用R软件，代码中已嵌入所有所需的依赖包。该代码可用于复现相关论文中的分析与图表。
所需数据文件包括：Matches.csv、Participants.csv、Elo_Age_class_all.RData与Teddybears_data.csv。