strong emotions
People cry for five reasons
Humans are probably the only creature that cries for emotional reasons. In a specialist journal, psychologists divide human tears into five categories: loneliness, powerlessness, overwhelm, harmony and media consumption.
Published: 23 minutes ago
Humans are probably the only creature that cries for emotional reasons. (icon picture)
The classification into these categories is based on the idea that emotional tears always occur when basic psychological needs are either not met or are very intensively satisfied, the researchers from the Universities of Ulm and Sussex (UK) explained in the journal “Motivation and Emotion”.
Five Categories of Lacrimation
The psychologists point out, for example, that loneliness is caused by an unfulfilled need for closeness – and can thus lead to tears. They also include tears from lovesickness or homesickness in this category.
According to the researchers, tears of joy, on the other hand, occur after the intensive satisfaction of the need for harmony – for example at a wedding. As an example of tears due to powerlessness, they cite the reaction to a death notice.
Difference from the basal tears
The emotional tears can be clearly distinguished from the so-called basal tears, which keep the eyes moist and protect them. The researchers also left out tears as a reflex reaction to cold, wind or when cutting onions in their study.
In order to fathom human crying, the researchers conducted two online surveys asking people about the reasons for emotional tears. In another experiment, subjects were asked to keep a daily diary. It was found, for example, that younger people cried more often than older people because they were overwhelmed.
The psychologists see the study as a basis for further research on the phenomenon of emotional tears. So far, there has been a lack of knowledge about the influence tears have on whether one person supports another, said co-author Johannes Keller, head of the Department of Social Psychology at Ulm University. Identifying the five most common reasons for crying could help answer these questions in the future.
(SDA)