Name: Why Asians Are Supposedly 'Cuter' (Scientific Breakdown)
Uploaded: 2018-07-31T03:50:35.000Z
Duration: 8 min 52 s
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So, here's a statement: 'Asians are cuter'

If that was your reaction, this video is probably
not what you think.

Everyone has their own opinions of what constitutes
as attractive.

But I'm not necessarily talking about 'attractiveness'
here - I'm talking about 'cuteness'

Cuteness is a term describing a type of attractiveness
commonly associated with youth and appearance.

So when I say 'Asians are cuter', well,
they arguably are

and that's including males,
not just females.

Now, compared to adults, common features for
infants across all ethnic groups include

larger heads, flatter faces, reduction of the brow ridge, hairlessness, thinner bones, reduced muscle mass,

smaller physical size, shorter arms, shorter legs,
just to name a few

and of course this is largely why people find
babies cute.

If they didn't have these features and proportions,
they'd more so resemble miniature adults

Normally as you transition from a big headed,
short limbed baby, to a longer-legged juvenile,

to a teenager, and finally to a fully-developed
adult

you would expect to lose most if not 
all of these traits.

How many 'cute', baby-like features you retain
into adulthood, largely depends on your ethnicity.

And this takes us back to Asian people, specifically
East Asian people, because

compared to other groups, they tend to have (on average) the highest retention of childlike features

This is called 'Neoteny', where you may still
look 14 even though you're actually 30.

I suppose this may be getting awkward for
some of you, especially for those who have

Studies have shown that, at least for men,
there is a clear preference or attraction

towards neotenized faces - and this is regardless
of ethnicity.

Men of all types were more likely to find
neonate features attractive.

And since Asian people were more likely to
have these features,

it's only natural that a high percentage of these men were also drawn to Asian people.

So in many of these cases, what looked like
'Asian fever', may have just be 'cuteness fever'.

And this is regardless of the person's actual age.

According to these studies, neotenous faces were
perceived as having higher 'sociability' and 'femininity'

where as those 'low in neoteny',
were more 'intimidating'.

Well, about 30,000 years ago there was a crucial
juncture in the evolution of Asians.

There was a gene mutation that resulted in
several distinctive traits that made

East Asians different from other populations.

Thicker hair shafts, reduced chin protrusion, smaller breasts, changes in the morphology of ears and teeth

many these traits making an individual look younger than they actually are.

As time went on, changes in cranial morphology
followed, slightly larger heads, flatter faces,

more pronounced cheekbones, reduced sexual dimorphism

which means males started to resemble females a little more

basically an all-round high retention of juvenile characteristics.

Now, depending on your preference which relate
to your background, your culture

your thoughts may differ on the attractiveness of the aforementioned.

In Western society, the desirability of these
traits is not exactly something that's encouraged

And has been the case for a very long time.

In fact, it's said sexual selection likely played a major role in bringing these traits to the forefront.

As mentioned previously there is an innate attraction that males in general have towards neotenous features

regardless of culture - but in East Asian society, this is heightened.

With more males selecting 'cute' female
partners

overtime these traits became more and more widespread.

In this sense, neoteny in Asian males is really
the resulting 'by-product' of sexual selection.

Another point to consider is that infantile features tend to trigger a nurturing response in adults

they elicit more affection, meaning that this is possibly an evolutionary adaptation

to help ensure that children are taken care
of by adults

and thus securing the survival of the species.

In a similar sense, those who retain said traits into adulthood could have higher reproductive success.

If you're wondering why non-neotenous traits
exist in the first place

well there are obvious evolutionary benefits

larger teeth and jaws, for example, would have been needed for the constant chewing of

Yes you can see from this that neoteny is
actually a condition that has affected all humans

An adult human today is a lot closer to the
juvenile form of our ancestors.

We're all basically mutant apes that never grew up.

Ok, at this point, many of you may be wondering how the concept of 'Asian eyes' fits into all of this?

I mean, babies are supposed to have disproportionately
large eyes

I've actually done an extra video covering
this specific topic

which you can check out exclusively
on our Patreon page (the link's down below)

Now, it's not just the physical characteristics
that make East Asians appear 'cuter'.

If there's one country that exemplifies
this the most, it would have to be Japan.

Kawaii culture has long been a prominent aspect
of Japanese society.

The cutesy, kawaii way of talking and acting
is certainly commonplace there

with many Japanese men finding this attractive.

And actually it's not just restricted to
the way they look and the way they act

kawaii cuteness is pervasive everywhere - in media,
entertainment, clothing, food, toys, transport,

Ok so the ability for adult humans to be able to act kawaii is also considered a neotenous trait.

This is an example of 'psychological neoteny'

where there is a retention of youthful attitudes and behaviors into later adulthood.

While this is certainly more widespread in
Japan, South Korea, parts of China

it's not strictly an East Asian phenomenon.

For example, you perhaps could classify the American 'California valley girl' tone and behaviour