Perfectionistic Discrepancy, Stress, and Preference for Ugly–Cute Memes: Evidence from a Survey and a Randomized Experiment

Ugly–cute memes, which blend visual incongruity with cuteness, have become a prominent form of nonconventional online esthetics on social media, yet little is known about who prefers them and why. The present research examined how perfectionistic discrepancy and stress-related states relate to ugly–cute meme preference across two studies. In Study 1, 356 Chinese adults completed the Discrepancy subscale of the Almost Perfect Scale–Revised, together with measures of perceived stress, state anxiety, and preference for a pretested ugly–cute meme. The mediation model yielded a negative direct association between perfectionistic discrepancy and ugly–cute meme preference, as well as positive indirect associations through state anxiety and through the serial path from perceived stress to state anxiety. Study 2 used a randomized recall-based stress induction with 393 valid participants. Compared with participants in the neutral-recall control condition, those in the stress-recall condition reported higher state anxiety, rated ugly–cute images more favorably, and were more likely to choose an ugly–cute image in the forced-choice task. The estimated indirect effect of the stress manipulation on ugly–cute image preference through state anxiety was statistically significant. Overall, stress-related states appear to increase the appeal of ugly–cute content. Perfectionistic discrepancy, in turn, relates to this preference through opposing direct and indirect routes.