Personality, gender, and crying

Abstract

This study examined gender differences in crying as well as associations between basic personality traits and self-reported indices of crying. Forty-eight men and 56 women completed the Five-Factor Personality Inventory and the Adult Crying Inventory. Substantial gender differences were demonstrated in crying frequency and crying proneness, but not with respect to mood changes after crying. As predicted, women reported a higher frequency of crying and more proneness to cry both for negative and positive reasons. For women, all these crying indices were negatively associated with Emotional Stability. For men, only a signi®cant negative relationship between Emotional Stability and crying for negative reasons emerged. No clear links were found between personality and mood changes after crying. Multiple regression analysis revealed a signi®cant predictive role of gender for crying proneness, even when controlling for personality differences, but not for crying frequency. Adding personality by gender interaction terms resulted in a disappearance of the main effect of sex, while signi®cant interactions with personality factors showed up for crying frequency and general crying proneness. It is suggested that future research on the relationship between personality and crying should focus more on the underlying mechanisms of observed relationships. Furthermore, it is recommended that future research should examine the role of different emotion regulation strategies. In addition, biological factors, temperament, upbringing measures, and socio-demographic variables should be taken into account.

Memorable Experiences with Sad Music—Reasons, Reactions and Mechanisms of Three Types of Experiences

“…The physical and mental reactions and changes also exhibit strong gender differences; for physical reactions, women report more crying than men in all samples ( χ 2 >14.1** for S1-S3), which is consistent with crying in general, where women have been shown to be higher in crying propensity and crying frequency [ 34 , 35 ]. There are also gender, musical expertise, and sample differences across the ratings of intensity and pleasure of the memorable experiences.…”

Why crying does and sometimes does not seem to alleviate mood: a quasi-experimental study

“…Vingerhoets 2013 ). For example, previous research has shown that more neurotic individuals cry more often (De Fruyt 1997 ) and more easily (Peter et al 2001 ), while, for example, introverted and depressive individuals report more often the absence of mood benefits following crying (De Fruyt 1997 ; Rottenberg et al 2008b ). Kraemer and Hastrup ( 1988 ) tried to solve this issue of confounding individual differences by instructing participants to cry or to suppress their tears, but, as noted above, the adequacy of that solution is arguable because such a manipulation makes the situation rather artificial.…”

Facial expression of pain: An evolutionary account

“…Sex differences in crying frequency and crying proneness have been demonstrated, the latter ones still evident when controlling for personality differences (Peter et al 2001). Sex differences also extend to crying intensity, self-report of postcrying affect, and crying elicitors across interpersonal and stimulus situations (Lombardo et al 1983;Williams & Morris 1996).…”