Adult Crying Research Articles

Five reasons to cry—FRC: a taxonomy for common antecedents of emotional crying

Human beings are probably the only creatures with a capacity to shed emotional tears. While prior work has mostly used data-driven approaches to identify situational antecedents of adult crying, we present a theory-based taxonomy. Assuming that crying is preceded by the frustration or satisfaction of psychological needs, we postulate that the most common antecedents of crying can be organized into five categories—that is, the Five Reasons to Cry (FRC): loneliness, impotence, overload, harmony, and media. Testing our assumptions in a retrospective study (N = 720, pre-registered) and a thirty-day electronic diary study (N = 91) showed that (i) crying episodes could be reliably assigned to the FRC, (ii) the theorized relations to frustrated/satisfied psychological needs emerged, and (iii) the categories were systematically related to subjective well-being, indicating their criterion validity. In sum, this research provides a valid taxonomy of common situational antecedents of adult emotional crying.

Limbic-visual attenuation to crying faces underlies neglectful mothering

Neglectful mothering is one of the most common forms of childhood maltreatment, involving a severe disregard of the child’s needs, yet little is known about its neural substrate. A child’s needs are usually conveyed by signals of distress revealed by crying faces. We tested whether infant and adult crying faces are processed differently in two sociodemographically similar groups of Neglectful (NM) and non-neglectful Control Mothers (CM). We used functional brain imaging to analyze the BOLD response from 43 mothers (23 neglectful and 20 control) while viewing faces from infants and adults (crying and neutral). In NM as compared to CM, the BOLD responses to both infant and adult crying faces were significantly reduced in the cerebellum, lingual, fusiform, amygdala, hippocampus, parahippocampus, and inferior frontal gyrus. The reduced BOLD was also modulated by comorbid psychiatric symptoms. In the CM, frontal activation to infant versus adult crying faces was enhanced, whereas in the NM activation in the anterior cingulate cortex to infant crying was reduced compared to adult crying. The altered neural response to crying faces in NM, showing generic face and infant-specific face processing deficits, could underlie their characteristic poor social abilities as well as their poor response to infant needs, both affecting the caregiving role.

Brain Processes in Mothers and Nulliparous Women in Response to Cry in Different Situational Contexts: A Default Mode Network Study

SYNOPSISObjective: In everyday life, parents must respond to and interact with children while in different situational contexts. How situational contexts influence parents’ responses has not been systematically studied. Here we investigated mothers’ versus nonmothers’ neural responses to infant vocalizations in different situations with different task demands. Design: Using fMRI in 21 women (10 mothers), we explored the effects of being distracted by self-oriented (self-referential decisions about personality adjectives) versus goal-oriented (syllabic counting of personality adjectives) tasks while listening to infant cry in comparison with other emotional sounds (infant laughing, adult crying) on the activity of two medial nodes of the Default Mode Network (DMN): the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Results: In the self-oriented task while listening to infant cry, both mothers and nulliparas showed (weak) activation of the DMN; this response likely reflects a shift of attention from the task to the cry. In the goal-oriented task, mothers, not nulliparas, showed (weak) activation of the DMN; this result is compatible with interference of emotional sounds while attending to a goal-oriented task, an activity that deactivates the DMN. Conclusions: Mothers are prone to process infant cry and emotional sounds and are less distracted from doing so by situational contexts, demonstrating their greater sensitivity to emotional sounds such as cry. By contrast, situational context influenced brain responses to infant sounds in nulliparas.

Recent advances in the crying literature

Experiences of emotional crying are thought to serve both inter- and intra-individual functions. Research investigating the inter-individual level looks at how crying acts as a signal to others, the message it sends and the social responses it elicits. Intra-individual level research focuses on whether crying is good for you and if episodes of crying reduce emotional intensity through cathartic mechanisms. In this article, I will introduce the major theories on adult crying, discuss current research and recent advancements in the emotional crying literature. I will also highlight areas where more research is needed to better understand emotional crying.

Behavioral and neural responses to infant and adult tears: The impact of maternal love withdrawal.

The current study examined behavioral and neural responses to infant and adult tears, taking into account childhood experiences with parental love-withdrawal. With functional MRI (fMRI), we measured neural reactivity to pictures of infants and adults with and without tears on their faces in nulliparous women with varying childhood experiences of maternal use of love withdrawal. Behavioral responses to infant and adult tears were measured with an approach-avoidance task. We found that individuals with experiences of love withdrawal showed less amygdala and insula reactivity to adult tears, but love withdrawal did not affect amygdala and insula reactivity to infant tears. During the approach-avoidance task, individuals responded faster to adult tears in the approach condition compared with the avoidance condition, indicating that adult tears facilitate approach behavior. Individuals responded faster to infant tears than to adult tears, regardless of approach or avoidance condition. Our findings suggest that infant tears are highly salient and may, therefore, overrule the effects of contextual and personal characteristics that influence the perception of adult crying. (PsycINFO Database Record

Crying and Attachment Style: The Role of Romantic Relationships

Crying is an attachment behavior that functions to elicit support from others (Nelson, 1998); the context in which the crying occurs is important in understanding whether it is adaptive or maladaptive (Hendriks & Vingerhoets, 2006). However, very little research has examined whether and how attachment style is associated with adult crying, and if this association might vary by an individual’s relationship status. Using a sample of 305 first-year college students and a series of hierarchical regressions, we examined the moderating effect of relationship status on the associations between attachment style (measured using the Revised Experiences in Close Relationships Scale; Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000) and crying frequency and tendency. We found that attachment anxiety was positively associated with both crying frequency and tendency, whereas attachment avoidance was negatively associated with crying tendency. However, we found moderation effects only in the case of attachment avoidance; specifically, we found that attachment avoidance was associated with a lower frequency of crying and tendency to cry only for those individuals involved in romantic relationships. Attachment anxiety, on the other hand, was associated with greater crying frequency and tendency regardless of relationship status. These results demonstrate not only that crying may act as an attachment behavior, but also that the activation or deactivation of this particular attachment behavior may be dependent on the existence of a romantic attachment figure.

Attachment orientations and adult crying.

Attachment orientations and adult crying.

Crying as Communication in Domestic Helper Narratives

Most research on adult crying is based on questionnaires or laboratory studies, and few studies have looked at crying in discourse. This article reports on a study of life stories of foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) in Hong Kong. The stories, which were recorded in a church shelter, are trauma narratives characterised by repeated crying. The article provides first, an overview of the themes that led the women to cry in the 89 crying events that were identified, and second, a discourse analysis of six selected excerpts. The analyses suggest that crying events should be seen as discursive accomplishments among group members. The article also provides evidence of a link between crying and catharsis, and it questions the common assumption that crying is a desirable form of emotional expression. Finally, the article discusses some possible functions of crying and proposes the first step towards a social psychological theory of crying in discourse.

PS2-17: What Happens When Adult Patients Cry in Primary Care Visits?

Background/Aims Didactic training in medical education on how to address significant emotional distress is inadequate. Even if unfamiliar with mental health assessment tools, any physician presumably can recognize distress when presented with an adult crying. This study describes the reasons disclosed during routine periodic health examinations (PHEs) for patient crying and how primary care physicians respond to this distress.

Individual Differences in Adult Crying: the Role of Attachment Styles

We carried out 2 studies to evaluate the relationship between attachment style and crying in adults. Data were collected from 2 independent large samples, measuring as 2 different operationalizations crying in general and in response to music. The results in both studies showed a consistent pattern. As anticipated, the group with a dismissive attachment style cried less than the other groups, and the preoccupied attachment style group cried more intensely than the secure group. The preoccupied and fearful attachment style groups reported the most negative emotions while crying, whereas the secure group reported more crying over positive emotions. These results show that attachment style is a determinant of adult crying behavior.

成人期における“泣くこと”による心理的変化

This research focused on both the psychological benefits and costs of crying. We investigated the relationships of intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences of crying. Female nurses (N = 300) were requested to describe one of the most impressive negative episodes where they had cried. Then, they were asked to complete a questionnaire including a scale of their psychological changes after the crying episode and the social reactions when they cried. Factor analysis revealed five components of the psychological changes scale. Solitary crying had greater effects for both psychological benefits and costs after crying than crying in front of others. Factor analysis revealed three components of the scale of social reactions. When they cried in front of others, "catharsis", "positive attitude", and "recognition of the relationship with others" after crying were associated with "empathy and social support" from others. The factors of "recognition of negative reality" and "negative attitude" were associated with "criticism and slander" from others. These results were discussed in terms of the communicative functions and the reflective functions of adult crying.

Weinen

This contribution describes the present state of research concerning human crying, in particular the conditions that induce crying, the context and the intra-individual and inter-individual effects of shedding emotional tears. Crying is regarded not only as a psychobiological process with certain effects on the physical and mental well-being of the crying person, but also as a process which has a strong impact on the social environment. A comprehensive model of adult crying is presented, which not only accounts for these behavioral differences, but which also covers the reasons for crying, its social contexts, its consequences for the crying person and its inter-individual effects. In addition, the role of moderating variables is clarified. It is emphasized that there is no clear evidence in support of the hypothesis that crying brings relief and is healthy. It is suggested that the appropriate question is "under which conditions can crying bring relief?” rather than "does crying bring relief?” Furthermore, the impact of crying on the social environment is pointed out by which it facilitates the provision of social support and it may reduce aggression. Seen from a coping perspective, crying thus may both serve emotion-focused coping and problem-focused coping functions.

Adult Crying: A Model and Review of the Literature

Crying is one of the most powerfully compelling forms of human emotional expression, and yet, until recently, crying has received little attention from behavioral scientists. In this article, a model of adult crying is presented that describes the situations and emotions that elicit crying and characterizes the possible moderating effects of environmental, personal, and cultural factors on crying. Empirical data relevant to the model are summarized, and areas in need of further investigation are identified. In addition, the question of whether and how crying may affect mood and health is considered. It is concluded that the literature is full of ungrounded speculation and that research until now has been rather unsystematic and not sufficiently theory driven. Recently available data, however, pave the way for formulating a more comprehensive theoretical framework for generating testable hypotheses about crying.

Adult crying: A model and review of the literature.

Crying is one of the most powerfully compelling forms of human emotional expression, and yet, until recently, crying has received little attention from behavioral scientists. In this article, a model of adult crying is presented that describes the situations and emotions that elicit crying and characterizes the possible moderating effects of environmental, personal, and cultural factors on crying. Empirical data relevant to the model are summarized, and areas in need of further investigation are identified. In addition, the question of whether and how crying may affect mood and health is considered. It is concluded that the literature is full of ungrounded speculation and that research until now has been rather unsystematic and not sufficiently theory driven. Recently available data, however, pave the way for formulating a more comprehensive theoretical framework for generating testable hypotheses about crying.

The Weeping Behavior in Anorexic and Bulimic Females

Background: The aim of the study was to examine the proneness, the functions and triggering situations of weeping in anorexic and bulimic women. Methods: Participants were 36 anorexic and 31 bulimic female patients and 56 age-matched female controls. All women completed the Questionnaire on Adult Crying. We limited our study to results on ‘crying proneness’, ‘functions of crying’ and ‘determining factors of crying’. Results: Bulimic patients reported to have cried significantly more often in the last 4 weeks, to be more likely to cry in situations of distress and to have used weeping significantly more often as a manipulative behavior than control women. Anorexic patients rated their tendency to cry significantly lower and experienced weeping as significantly more negative than controls. Conclusions: Compared to control women, anorexic patients associated weeping with negative feelings as opposed to bulimic patients who appeared to use weeping on an intentional basis. These deviations from control women seem to mirror the introvert character of anorexic patients and the extrovert impulsive personality of patients with bulimia nervosa, respectively.

Gender and individual differences in adult crying

This study reports on gender and individual differences in adult crying. A total of 105 subjects filled out a questionnaire on adult crying (Vingerhoets, 1995) and two personality inventories, the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R) (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and the Five-factor Personality Inventory (FFPI) (Hendriks et al., 1995). The results showed that gender and personality substantially and independently contribute to the variance in weeping frequency. Women cry more often and perceive weeping more as a coping style. Neuroticism proved to be considerably correlated with weeping frequency and weeping as a coping style, even after partialling out the effects of gender and age. Extraversion was correlated with relief and positive feelings after crying. These results are discussed in the context of an ongoing international study on adult crying.