Emotional crying provides an evolutionary advantage
Large-scale cross-cultural research supports the evolutionary hypothesis that emotional crying acts as a social glue, reliably eliciting empathy and social support from observers.
Papers [0] and [9] directly investigate the evolutionary and interpersonal functions of emotional crying using massive international samples, confirming that tears trigger pro-social intentions and serve an attachment function. The remaining papers cover unrelated topics such as AI in psychotherapy, music psychology, animal evolution, and pandemic stress, and are therefore tangential.
Janis H. Zickfeld, N. Ven, O. Pich, Thomas W. Schubert, J. Berkessel, J. Pizarro, B. Bhushan, Niño Jose Mateo, Sérgio Barbosa, L. Sharman, G. Kökönyei, E. Schrover, Igor Kardum, John Jamir Benzon, L. Lazarević, M. Escobar, M. Stadel, Patrícia Arriaga, Arta Dodaj, R. Shankland, Nadyanna M. Majeed, Yansong Li, Andree Hartanto, A. Özdogru, L. Vaughn, María del Carmen Espinoza, Amparo Caballero, A. Kolen, Julie Karsten, H. Manley, Nao Maeura, Mustafa Eşkisu, Y. Shani, Phakkanun Chittham, D. Ferreira, J. Bavoľár, I. Konova, W. Sato, Coby Morvinski, Pilar Carrera, Sergio Villar, A. Ibáñez, Shlomo Hareli, Adolfo M. García, Inbal Kremer, F. Götz, A. Schwerdtfeger, Catalina Estrada-Mejía, Masataka Nakayama, Wee Qin Ng, Kristina Sesar, C. Orjiakor, K. Dumont, Tara Bulut Allred, A. Gračanin, P. Rentfrow, Victoria Schönefeld, Zahir Vally, Krystian Barzykowski, Henna-Riikka Peltola, A. Tcherkassof, S. Haque, M. Śmieja, Terri Tan Su-May, H. Ijzerman, A. Vatakis, Chew Wei Ong, Eunsoo Choi, Sebastian L. Schorch, D. Páez, Sadia Malik, Pavol Kačmár, Magdalena Bobowik, P. Jose, J. Vuoskoski, N. Basabe, U. Doğan, T. Ebert, Y. Uchida, M. X. Zheng, P. Mefoh, R. Sebena, F. Stanke, C. J. Ballada, A. Blaut, Yang Wu, J. Daniels, N. Kocsel, E. G. D. Burak, Nina F. Balt, E. Vanman, S. Stewart, B. Verschuere, P. Sikka, Jordane Boudesseul, Diogo Martins, Ravit Nussinson, Kenichi Ito, Sari Mentser, T. Çolak, G. Martinez. Tears evoke the intention to offer social support: A systematic investigation of the interpersonal effects of emotional crying across 41 countries. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JESP.2021.104137
A large-scale multinational study confirms that emotional tears consistently evoke the intention to offer social support, functioning as a social glue.
See more details
Janis H. Zickfeld, N. van de Ven, O. Pich, Thomas W. Schubert, Sadia Malik, F. Stanke, Eunsoo Choi, K. Dumont, N. Kocsel, Kökönyei Gyöngyi, Phakkanun Chittham, H. Manley, Coby Morvinski, Masataka Nakayama, Y. Uchida, W. Sato, A. Ibáñez, Adolfo M. García, P. Sikka, E. G. D. Burak, P. Jose, Arta Dodaj, M. Stadel, J. Daniels, A. Schwerdtfeger, Catalina Estrada-Mejía, T. Bulut, Krystian Barzykowski, I. Konova, Magdalena Bobowik, Shlomo Hareli, Amparo Caballero, U. Doğan, L. Sharman, A. Tcherkassof, A. Kolen, P. Mefoh, J. Bavoľár, E. Vanman, Kenichi Ito, A. Özdogru, Yang Wu, Ravit Nussinson, J. Vuoskoski, H. IJzerman, L. Lazarević, T. Ebert, Sergio Villar Salinas, A. Vatakis, J. J. B. Aruta, Sari Mentser, Zahir Vally, Pilar Carrera, Yansong Li, Sérgio Barbosa, B. Verschuere, E. Schrover, Suzanne R. Stewart, A. Gračanin, J. Berkessel, José J. Pizarro Carrasco, M. Śmieja, Patrícia Arriaga, Henna-Riikka Peltola, C. Orjiakor, Igor Kardum, Victoria Schönefeld, L. Vaughn, Nina F. Balt, Andree Hartanto, C. J. Ballada, Wee Qin Ng, B. Bhushan, S. Haque, N. Majeed, Niño Jose Mateo, Pavol Kačmár, M. X. Zheng, Terri Tan Su-May, A. Blaut, D. Páez, R. Shankland, Julie Karsten, Kristina Sesar, F. Götz, Jason Rentfrow, M. Escobar, Y. Shani, Inbal Kremer, Nao Maeura, A. Vingerhoets. Tears Trigger the Intention to Offer Social Support: A Systematic Investigation of the Interpersonal Effects of Emotional Crying Across 36 Countries. 2020. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/bya75
Cross-cultural research demonstrates that tearful crying elicits interpersonal support and serves an attachment function across diverse populations.
The paper trail · every fact has a biography
Challenge the receipt
Citation formatting by citeproc-js (Frank Bennett) and the Citation Style Language project. Source and licenses.
Terms · Privacy · How verdicts work · Dispute this receipt