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Of course we’ve all done it – but the mechanisms behind crying are a mystery to many.
1. Tears are like protein shakes (almost)
Before we get to the obvious facts about tears – the emotions – let’s first talk about the hard facts: Science distinguishes between emotional, basal and reflex tears. The latter arise from external stimuli. Cutting onions or wind, for example. Basal tears, on the other hand, moisten the eye and protect it with cleansing properties.
The composition of the three types of tears is the same: electrolytes, water and proteins. The concentration is different: emotional tears contain more proteins than reflex tears, and more prolactin, manganese and potassium. But does a big sip help build muscle? Hardly likely.
2. There are five categories of tears
In a study published in August 2022, psychologists from the Universities of Ulm and Sussex divided the reasons for tears into five categories: loneliness, powerlessness, overwhelm, harmony and media consumption.
3. Women cry more – and these are the reasons
Ad Vingerhoets is a professor of clinical psychology at Tilburg University and a wine expert: according to his research, women cry 30 to 64 times a year, men only 6 to 17 times a year. Or at least they say they are crying. Much of this research is self-reported, meaning men may be under-reporting how often they cry.
Vingerhoets also examined the average duration of a crying attack: women say they cry for an average of six minutes at a time, men cry for two to three minutes. “We suspect that social influence has a major influence here.” For most people, “crying still doesn’t fit into the image of stereotypical masculinity,” said the researcher in the study abstract.
Legend:
One reason for more tears in women could be the tear duct.
Stocksy / jamie grill atlas
In fact, men are also biologically predisposed to shed fewer tears: “Studies show that men have larger tear ducts. This makes it less likely that the tears will rise to the point where they flow over the eyelid onto the cheek,” Vingerhoets told “The Cut.”
4. Crying is not necessarily liberating
Whether crying reduces stress is controversial. This theory has its origins in the discovery that emotional tears contain more stress hormones than reflex tears. But experiments show that your mood doesn’t necessarily improve after crying. When researchers showed test subjects a sad film and then asked about their mood, those who cried were in a worse mood than those who didn’t cry.
5. Dogs also shed tears of joy
For a long time, researchers believed that humans were the only creatures who cried for emotional reasons. In August 2022, researchers from Japan were able to show that dogs can also shed tears of joy when they see their owners again. The cuddle hormone oxytocin may play a crucial role in this.
From previous observations, the researchers led by study leader Takefumi Kikusui knew that oxytocin is released during interactions in both dogs and their owners. Now all that was left to do was find out whether dogs cry when they are reunited with their owners. That was exactly the case – unlike a person they didn’t know.