There's a reason why cats like "The Grumpy Cat" and the cat that looks like Adam Driver from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" have gone viral on the Internet. Science explains that the fascination of humans towards cats is "ingrained" and instinctive.
According to a study, people are generally attracted towards things (or animals) that look like an infant (which also explains the Internet's obsession towards pandas). Humans tend to react to a cat similar to how we react towards babies, reported CNN.
"These features are so ingrained in us to respond to," claims Oriana Aragon, a psychologist from Yale University. "Our survival depends on us taking care of our young. It's part of our human species to respond to these features."
Aragon published a study that explains the obsession of the Internet towards cat videos. She and her colleagues published the paper for the "Psychological Science" journal last year.
Moreover, watching adorable kitten videos on YouTube is beneficial to your emotional well-being. In fact, the effects of watching these videos are comparable to eating chocolates or having sex!
Whenever you see a photo or a video of a cute animal, the pleasure center of your brain lights up and releases a rush of dopamine which, you know, is the molecule behind the pleasure of rewards and cravings. Slate explains that dopamine is responsible for people's "motivation, addiction, attention, or lust."
In short, you are not just drawn towards cat videos, you are addicted to it. Aragon adds that whenever humans experience pleasure out of doing something, they tend to come back to experience the high all over again. Whenever they see a baby (or anything that resembles a baby), the immediate reaction is to reach out and "cuddle it" which gives them a boost of dopamine which, then, leads to happiness.
Even better, watching a cat video or two make productive and efficient employee. Cat Channel mentions that seeing cats increases a person's concentration and productivity.
Psychology Science covered a similar research conducted by the Hiroshima University revealed that cute cat and puppy pics demands attention in such a way that your focus and attention to detail are significantly improved. The researchers says placing cats and dogs in ad campaigns would help make the brand more successful in not just capturing consumers' attention, but by making them look at the ad longer.
