Social and psychological consequences of not crying: possible associations with psychopathology and therapeutic relevance

Hesdorffer, Dale C.; Vingerhoets, A.J.J.M.; Trimble, Michael

doi:10.1017/s1092852917000141

Cited by 12 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Some research focused on the crier’s experience has begun to emerge, with research comparing people who had lost the ability to cry and those who could. For example, Hesdorffer et al (2017) found no differences between the two groups on their ratings of well-being but did find that people who could cry felt more socially connected with others than those who could not. These findings suggest that crying may assist in creating feelings of social connectedness, yet it is still unclear whether that social connection and help happens during the crying experience itself or, perhaps, because crying encourages a person to seek help afterward.…”

Section: Crying and The Social Contextmentioning

confidence: 86%

The Relationship of Gender Roles and Beliefs to Crying in an International Sample

et al. 2019

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This study aimed to (1) investigate the variation in self ascription to gender roles and attitudes toward gender roles across countries and its associations with crying behaviors, emotion change, and beliefs about crying and (2) understand how the presence of others affects our evaluations of emotion following crying. This was a large international survey design study (N = 893) conducted in Australia, Croatia, the Netherlands, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. Analyses revealed that, across countries, gender, self-ascribed gender roles, and gender role attitudes (GRA) were related to behavioral crying responses, but not related to emotion change following crying. How a person evaluates crying, instead, appeared to be highly related to one’s beliefs about the helpfulness of crying, irrespective of gender. Results regarding crying when others were present showed that people are more likely both to cry and to feel that they received help around a person that they know, compared to a stranger. Furthermore, closeness to persons present during crying did not affect whether help was provided. When a crier reported that they were helped, they also tended to report feeling better following crying than those who cried around others but did not receive help. Few cross-country differences emerged, suggesting that a person’s responses to crying are quite consistent among the countries investigated here, with regard to its relationship with a person’s gender role, crying beliefs, and reactions to the presence of others.

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Section: Crying and The Social Contextmentioning

confidence: 86%

The Relationship of Gender Roles and Beliefs to Crying in an International Sample

et al. 2019

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“…Consistent with this idea, Benecke (2009) found that patients with a range of psychiatric disorders who cried during a clinical interview reported feeling closer or related more to others and were also less aggressive in both their self-reported emotions and facial expressions relative to noncrying patients. Similarly, Hesdorffer et al (2018) observed that noncriers (relative to criers) had lower empathy scores and reported feeling less connected with others and receiving of less social support.…”

Section: Tears In the Clinical Settingmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…Exposure therapy in the context of trauma work, such as prolonged exposure (Foa et al, 2007; Peterson, Foa, & Riggs, 2011), may also facilitate the processing of emotions, including crying, where crying may be a sign of therapeutic progress. Tearless patients may also experience a more general emotional numbness that hinders their ability to connect with others, and tearlessness may hinder the solicitation of emotional support, which may be a critical mechanism involved in the facilitation of the beneficial effects of crying (see Gračanin et al, 2014; Hesdorffer et al, 2018). Psychotherapy to facilitate emotional processing and expression may also help tearless individuals to use interpersonal support better.…”

Section: Tears In the Clinical Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A clinical practice review of crying research.

2021

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The goal of this clinical practice review is to assess the current state of the theoretical and empirical literature on emotional crying (i.e., crying in response to an emotional stimulus), a topic that has received surprisingly limited attention of behavioral scientists and clinicians. Although the empirical research on emotional crying remains in a nascent state, we draw upon the existing scientific knowledge to provide preliminary suggestions for clinicians on how to interpret and respond to crying in clinical contexts. We also identify research gaps and provide recommendations for further research to improve our understanding of this intriguing and still poorly understood human behavior. We suggest that a better understanding of individual differences in crying behavior and the postulated intraindividual and interindividual functions of crying is of critical importance for clinicians, given its frequent occurrence and notable associations with emotional and social functioning. An improved characterization of this important phenomenon will lead to improvements in clinical assessment, treatment planning, and psychotherapy interventions.

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“…A more positive attitude toward crying and increased awareness of its impact on others may facilitate crying as a more functional coping mechanism, eliciting more support from others and reducing interpersonal difficulties (cf. [25]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attachment and Crying in Patients with Medically Unexplained Somatic Symptoms

Jansman

Riem

Broekhuizen-Dijksman

et al. 2019

SN Compr. Clin. Med.

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Mentalization deficits and disturbances in emotional functioning may contribute to somatization in patients with medically unexplained somatic symptoms (MUSS). The present study aimed to increase understanding the psychological factors that contribute to somatization by examining associations between attachment, crying attitudes and behavior, and somatic symptoms in these patients. Attachment security was measured with the Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire in sixty-eight outpatients diagnosed with MUSS. Somatic symptom severity was measured with the RAND-36, crying frequency, and attitudes with the Adult Crying Inventory. Patients were asked to evaluate photographs of crying individuals in order to assess the perception of crying and empathic responses to crying. Attachment anxiety was significantly related to somatic symptom severity and negative attitudes toward crying. In addition, somatic symptom severity was related to a more negative attitude toward crying and less awareness of the interpersonal impact of crying on others. The association between attachment anxiety and somatic symptoms was, however, not mediated by crying or negative attitude toward crying. Neither were there significant associations between attachment, somatic symptoms, and empathic responses to crying. Altered attitudes to crying may stem from a history of insecure attachment experiences and may reflect maladaptive emotion strategies in MUSS patients.

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Social and psychological consequences of not crying: possible associations with psychopathology and therapeutic relevance

Cited by 12 publications

References 28 publications

The Relationship of Gender Roles and Beliefs to Crying in an International Sample

The Relationship of Gender Roles and Beliefs to Crying in an International Sample

A clinical practice review of crying research.

Attachment and Crying in Patients with Medically Unexplained Somatic Symptoms

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