I took a little journey to Barnes and Noble last night in
search of a book I recently heard was a must read, called Get Me Out: A
History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank by Randi Hutter Epstein. I have only been able to
read the introduction so far, so I do not have much to report about the book,
but I do have a related story to share that will offer an interesting
perspective on why mothers feel such intensely close bonds with their babies.
After finding the last copy of the book I went to Barnes and
Noble to look for, my roommate asked me if I would look at an Anne Geddes book
with her before we left. Being a fan of babies, of course I said yes. We found
a cozy little nook with two chairs and flipped through the multitude of pages
filled with mostly sleeping babies; all were precious. I have shared before
that I don’t have children and am not at the point of wanting them just yet,
but I must admit when I see babies I get sucked into thinking about how much I
want one…now. If you are not familiar with Anne Geddes, check out the following
links so you can fully appreciate what I am talking about:
http://www.seattlepi.com/dayart/20071129/450Geddes_flower.jpg
http://www.dvojcata.cz/images/images/articles/foto/Anne_Geddes_Calendar_Gallery1.jpg
http://www.annegeddesbabypictures.com/images/1500-3242~Jake-in-Red-Rose-.jpg
Cute, aren’t they? But did you know there is a biological
reason we find them so darn cute? The facial structure and appearance of
infants literally signal adults to care for them. Large eyes, large heads, and
short limbs are markers of innocence and dependency. Because babies are so
vulnerable, and demanding, nature cues us to readily take care. Indeed, Lorenz
(1943) proposed the idea of Kindchenschema— “an
innate releasing mechanism for caretaking behavior and affective orientation
towards infants, triggered by features such as protruding cheeks, a large
forehead and large eyes below the horizontal midline of the skull. This is even
true for when we look at baby animals—infantile features turn on our parenting
or nurturing instincts. However, Brosch, Sander and Scherer (2007) found that
human babies capture human attention quicker than baby animals, indicating that
human babies are more biologically significant and more highly prioritized.
How does this link back to maternal and infant bonding?
Research by Lobmaier, Sprengelmeyer, Wiffen, and Perrett (2010) showed that
women are more sensitive to cuteness or attractiveness in babies than men
because of their unique biological role as feeder and protector. Due to this
extremely important role for mothers, women are attracted to their babies even
when they are unhappy or ill—bonding takes primacy.
While some may think the idea of a biological basis for bonding
with one’s child reduces intense love to a hardwired process of nature, I argue
that it strengthens intense love. Not only do women have a special emotional
and spiritual connection with their babies, they also have a more complex
biological connection with them than they thought, one that goes beyond
carrying and bearing them. In this sense, a mother’s connection to her child
has the potential to last a lifetime, for even when the big eyes and stubby
limbs develop into more adult-like features, the initial bonding lays a
foundation for future bonding. And that is a powerful thing!
Reference:
Lobmaier, J., Sprengelmeyer, R., Wiffen, B., & Perrett, D. (2010).
Female and male responses to cuteness, age and emotion in infant faces. Evolution
and Human Behavior , 31 (1), 16-21.
doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2009.05.004.