The Morality of ‘Cute’: Political Conservatism & Purity Values Drive Preferences Toward The Cute Aesthetic

We show that political conservatives (vs. liberals) prefer infantile cute products because the infantile cute aesthetic is associated with purity-related moral values. Across eight studies (n = 3,305) and two online search datasets (n = 1,808 observations), the constructs of political ideology and preferences for cuteness are operationalized in four ways for convergence. We use multi-country replications to test for generalizability and longitudinal study designs to confirm independent measurement of ideology. Along with mediation analyses, moderation by type of cuteness (infantile vs. whimsical cute) and product purity (pure vs. impure product) show that purity drives this effect. We demonstrate the ecological validity of the effect: state-level conservatism is related to state-level online search interest in cute (vs. control) products. Together, this work identifies individuals with preferences for an infantile cute aesthetic and demonstrates the moral judgement aspect of aesthetic choices. We discuss implications for segmentation, targeting, and positioning.