Empathic Weeping, Social Communication, and Cognitive Dissonance

Hill, Paul F.; Martin, Randall B.

doi:10.1521/jscp.1997.16.3.299

Cited by 29 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Third, our non-systematic literature review shows that the effect of self-reported intentions in response to hypothetical scenarios is rather strong. Similarly, the reviewed studies that focused on more behavioral measures such as subliminally presented stimuli or approach/avoidance movements (Balsters et al, 2013) or studies presenting real crying individuals (Hill & Martin, 1997) have found comparable effects with respect to the studies focusing on self-reported support intentions. Another key reason is that reports on support intentions are cost-effective and allow us to measure support without using for example deception across many different samples.…”

Section: Social Context and Perceived Appropriateness Little Consistenmentioning

confidence: 98%

Tears Trigger the Intention to Offer Social Support: A Systematic Investigation of the Interpersonal Effects of Emotional Crying Across 36 Countries

Zickfeld¹,

Ven²,

Pich³

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tearful crying is a ubiquitous and mainly human phenomenon. The persistence of this behavior throughout adulthood has fascinated and puzzled many researchers. Scholars have argued that emotional tears serve an attachment function: Tears are thought to act as a social glue that binds individuals together and triggers social support intentions. Initial experimental studies supported this proposition across several methodologies, but these were typically conducted only across Western participants, resulting in limited generalizability. The present study examines this effect across 36 countries spanning all populated continents, providing the most comprehensive investigation of the social effects of tearful crying to-date. Next to testing possible mediating factors, we also examine a number of moderating factors, including the crier’s gender and group membership, the situational valence (positive or negative situations), the social context (in private or public settings), the perceived appropriateness of crying, and trait empathy of the observer. The current work can inform theories on crying across the social sciences.

show abstract

Section: Social Context and Perceived Appropriateness Little Consistenmentioning

confidence: 98%

Tears Trigger the Intention to Offer Social Support: A Systematic Investigation of the Interpersonal Effects of Emotional Crying Across 36 Countries

Zickfeld¹,

Ven²,

Pich³

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Because the main function of crying is to stimulate others to help remove a certain source of discomfort (e.g., Frijda, 1997;Kottler & Montgomery, 2001;Vingerhoets et al, 2000), we hypothesized that people are more likely to help and support a crying person in unpleasant situations than in pleasant situations. We also theorized that crying in pleasant situations may be perceived as less appropriate than is crying in unpleasant situations, leading to more negative reactions from the social environment (Frijda, 1997;Hill & Martin, 1997;Nelson, 2000). Nelson (2005) suggested that crying is more likely in the presence of family and friends than in the company of strangers.…”

Section: Valence Of Situationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Reactions to Adult Crying: The Help-Soliciting Function of Tears

Hendriks

Croon

Vingerhoets

2008

The Journal of Social Psychology

121

124

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The authors investigated how people believe they respond to crying individuals. Participants (N = 530) read 6 vignettes describing situations in which they encountered a person who either cried or did not cry. Participants reported they would give more emotional support to and express less negative affect toward a crying person than a noncrying person. However, regression analyses revealed that participants judged a crying person less positively than a noncrying person and felt more negative feelings in the presence of a crying person than a noncrying person. The valence of the situation strongly moderated these reactions. Overall, results support the theory that crying is an attachment behavior designed to elicit help from others.

show abstract

“…First, although the prevalences vary dramatically, extreme low mood is observed in most, if not all, cultures (Hill and Martin, 1997;Howell, 1979;Andrade et al, 2003;Weissman et al, 1996). Second, a reanalysis of Brown and Harris' (1978) original data suggested that severe enough situations cause severe low mood (depression) in almost anyone (Monroe and Simons, 1991).…”

Section: Evolution and Subtypes Of Low Moodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is low mood an adaptation? Evidence for subtypes with symptoms that match precipitants

Keller¹,

Nesse²

2005

Journal of Affective Disorders

127

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Although severe depression is dysfunctional, the capacity to experience normal low mood may be useful in certain fitness-threatening situations. Moreover, if specific kinds of situations recurred often enough in the course of evolution, natural selection may have shaped partially differentiated subtypes of low mood that are parallel to the subtypes of anxiety that protect against different kinds of danger. To test this hypothesis, we examined how symptoms of low mood differ depending upon the precipitating situation, and whether these differences match expectations of symptoms useful in each kind of situation. Method: 337 subjects who experienced a period of low mood within the last year wrote accounts describing perceived causes of their low mood and they filled out the CES-D depression inventory. Seven symptom scales were derived from analysis of CES-D data. Independent judges blindly coded the accounts into one of six precipitant categories. Results: Different untoward situations were associated with different symptoms that were predicted to be useful in those situations. Social losses (death of a loved one, romantic breakups, and social isolation) were associated with greater crying and arousal. Failure to reach a goal, stress, and winter seasons were associated with more fatigue and pessimism. Discussion: These results suggest that natural selection shaped not only a generic state of low mood but also partially differentiated subtypes shaped to cope with specific situations that were associated with fitness losses among our ancestors. D

show abstract

Empathic Weeping, Social Communication, and Cognitive Dissonance

Cited by 29 publications

References 26 publications

Tears Trigger the Intention to Offer Social Support: A Systematic Investigation of the Interpersonal Effects of Emotional Crying Across 36 Countries

Tears Trigger the Intention to Offer Social Support: A Systematic Investigation of the Interpersonal Effects of Emotional Crying Across 36 Countries

Social Reactions to Adult Crying: The Help-Soliciting Function of Tears

Is low mood an adaptation? Evidence for subtypes with symptoms that match precipitants

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About