Sadness and anger: Boys, girls, and crying in adolescence.

Abstract

Men cry less frequently and intensely than women, and this sex difference is especially marked for crying in response to anger. We investigated the predictors of crying from sadness and anger in British adolescents and the extent to which they were moderated by gender. We asked participants how often they cried when experiencing each emotion and examined their reports in relation to five potential correlates, including the frequency and strength of the precipitating emotion. Both sexes reported that they were more likely to cry in response to sadness than anger, but, as expected, boys reported crying less than girls from both emotions. The correlates of crying when sad were similar in boys and girls: In addition to the effect of gender (female), other significant predictors were frequency and intensity of feeling sad, feminine gender role, depression, and by greater reported crying when sad. Crying from anger was predicted by gender and greater reported crying when sad. In girls, but not boys, anger intensity was a significant predictor. In boys, depression was a stronger predictor than it was in girls. We highlight the need for further research on emotional expression in boys and men, especially using qualitative techniques that can shed light on the parameters of “acceptable” crying and the extent to which depression may disrupt or subvert these display rules. We recommend that future studies focus on emotion-specific crying and employ measures of the frequency and intensity of precipitating emotions that were examined, for the first time, in this study.