Why Looking At Cute Animals Makes You A Better Person

If your internet search history is 99 percent adorable animals, then you're probably one of the happiest and most productive people around. Here's why.

When we see images of cute animals and we respond with joy, we're actually echoing our ancestors - our brains are designed to be drawn to anything that resembles a baby for survival purposes.

"Our survival depends on us taking care of our young. It's part of our human species to respond to these features," Oriana Aragon, a Yale psychologist, told CNN earlier this year.

We see a picture of a newborn puppy trying to roll over or a baby pig wearing pajamas, and suddenly we've never been more at ease.

On top of being hardwired to love cute little faces, studies have also shown that we're actually more productive after we've looked at pictures or watched videos depicting cute animals - this action triggers a positive response in our brain. We're more content and able to focus, and therefore we get more stuff done. (Your boss will be very happy.)

Now, a new app created by Thrive Global makes it even easier to fuel your cute animal habit, and became a more peaceful person while you're at it. Joy Trigger is a Google Chrome extension that shows you an animal gif every time you open a new tab in your browser. It also provides a piece of advice on ways to live your best life, with a link to a full article to back it up. This can have a positive effect on our overall wellbeing.

All you have to do is open a new tab ...

... and an adorable animal is there to greet you with a new mindful tip on how to improve your life.

So basically, cute animals are making the world a better place one viral video at a time.