From mukbangs to K–Beauty, many of the most popular social media trends hail from South Korea.
Now, a new Korean trend is sweeping the world, in which adults use baby voices and ‘cute’ mannerisms to appear more youthful.
Called ‘aegyo’, this trend is often associated with K–pop stars, who are asked to ‘perform’ aegyo by their fans – even competing to see who can be the cutest.
So, what is it about aegyo that tugs at the heartstrings?
According to a new study, it all comes down to the acoustics of the speech.
Researchers from Duksung Women’s University, South Korea, and the University of Zurich, Switzerland, studied the voices of men and women with and without aegyo.
Their analysis revealed how the aegyo speakers changed their voices to make it sound like they had a shorter vocal tract – just like children.
‘Speakers of aegyo make themselves sound smaller and younger,’ explained Volker Dellwo, an author of the study.
From mukbangs to K–Beauty, many of the most popular social media trends hail from South Korea . Now, a new Korean trend is sweeping the world, in which adults use baby voices and ‘cute’ mannerisms to appear more youthful. Pictured: Jungkook from BTS
Called ‘aegyo’, this trend is often associated with K–pop stars, who are asked to ‘perform’ aegyo by their fans – even competing to see who can be the cutest. Pictured: Blackpink
Aegyo is a Korean term meaning ‘acting cute’.
The trend involves using a high–pitched, child–like voice alongside exaggerated facial expressions such as pouting and winking.
You’ll also see people using certain hand gestures, such as making a heart with their fingers, or placing their hands on their cheeks.
While it’s hugely popular in Korea, based on the reaction across social media, not everyone is on board.
‘The whole concept of aegyo creeps me out..,’ one sceptic said on TikTok, while another added: ‘There’s NO way ppl genuinely enjoy seeing aegyo. Like I refuse to believe anyone likes it.’
In their new study, the researchers set out to understand what makes aegyo speech so cute.
The team enlisted male and female speakers aged 25–31, who were asked to read sentences both with, and without aegyo.
As they spoke, the researchers analysed the Formant 1 (F1) values of their vowel sounds.
The trend involves using a high–pitched, child–like voice alongside exaggerated facial expressions such as pouting and winking. You’ll also see people using certain hand gestures, such as making a heart with their fingers, or playing their hands on their cheeks. Pictured: Jin from BTS
While it’s hugely popular in Korea, based on the reaction across social media, not everyone is on board. Pictured: Minatozaki Sana, a member of the South Korean girl group TWICE
Formants are features of the voice concentrated around a particular frequency in a speech wave based on the movement of our tongue, lips, and jaw.
F1 is inversely related to vowel height and is mostly determined by the length of the throat.
The results revealed that when speaking with aegyo, the participants increased their formant frequencies.
‘A shorter vocal tract naturally produces higher resonances, and therefore higher formant frequencies, than a longer one,’ said author Ji–eun Kim.
‘This is one of the main reasons why children’s voices sound so different from those of adults.’
This is the opposite tactic to what we tend to see in animals, according to the researchers.
‘In the animal kingdom, several species lower their larynx to create the impression of a longer vocal tract and, therefore, a larger body size, making themselves appear more formidable than they really are,’ Mr Dellwo said.
‘Our findings suggest that humans can use the opposite strategy.’
As for why people use aegyo, the researchers suggest that adopting a cute voice may be a way to make yourself more memorable.
‘If this is the case, sounding cute may not only make someone appear more approachable, but could also help establish a person’s identity in the minds of others, a process that is fundamental at the beginning of any close social relationship,’ Dellwo said.
The team now hopes to carry out further studies on the trend to find out.
