Sex differences in crying: Empirical findings and possible explanations

Vingerhoets, A.J.J.M.; Scheirs, J.G.M.

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511628191.008

Cited by 83 publications

(93 citation statements)

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“…This null result differs from prior findings of increased reports of crying in depressed women [Carter et al, 2000;Okada, 1991] and may stem from differences in how crying was assessed in this study. Although our data are consistent with the idea that depression may mute the large gender differences in crying behavior that characterize adult populations [see Bekker and Vingerhoets, 2001;Vingerhoets and Scheirs, 2000], it is also possible that limitations in statistical power constrained our ability to detect gender effects among the patients. Reinforcing the idea that mood disorders may alter typical sex differences in crying, however, men (but not women) reported that the onset of depression led to increases in their crying frequency and cry proneness.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

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Do mood disorders alter crying? a pilot investigation

2008

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Clinical commentators widely interpret crying as a sign of depressed mood. However, there is virtually no empirical data on this topic, and the evidence that mood disorders alter crying is surprisingly weak. This study compared mood disordered patients to a nonpsychiatric reference group on the frequency, antecedents, and consequences of crying behavior using a well-validated questionnaire measure of crying. Forty-four outpatients diagnosed with three forms of mood pathology were age and gender matched to a reference group of 132 participants sampled to be representative of the Dutch population. Both groups completed the Adult Crying Inventory, which provides estimates of the self-reported frequency, antecedents, and consequences of crying behavior. Depression severity and psychiatric symptom severity data were also collected from patients. Compared with the reference group, patients with mood pathology reported increased cry proneness to negative antecedents. By contrast, patients and controls did not differ in reported cry proneness to positive antecedents. Patients reported less mood improvement after crying than did controls. Among male patients, but not female patients, depression severity was associated with increased crying proneness and increased crying frequency. This pilot investigation suggests that mood disorders increase the frequency of negative emotional crying, and may also alter the functions of this behavior. Mood disorders may influence male crying to a greater extent than female crying. Future directions designed to clarify the causal pathways between mood disorders and alterations in crying behavior are discussed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…Finally, one of the most robust determinants of crying in adulthood is gender. It has been found consistently that women cry more often and intensely than men [reviewed in Bekker and Vingerhoets, 2001;Vingerhoets and Scheirs, 2000]. Thus it important to examine whether depression may mute or maintain gender differences in crying.…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Do mood disorders alter crying? a pilot investigation

2008

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“…This effect may be explained by the inclusion of crying in this scale, because crying is an emotion expression Gender Direct anger expression Negative social appraisals β =-.33** (-.08) β = -.38* β = .65*** Fig. 1 Testing moderated mediation of social appraisals in predicting gender differences in direct anger expressions in traditional relationship contexts that is far more prevalent in women, independent of context (see also Fischer et al 2004;Vingerhoets and Scheirs 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Social Costs and Benefits of Anger as a Function of Gender and Relationship Context

Fischer

Evers

2011

Sex Roles

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On the basis of Social Role Theory and a social functional view of emotions, we argue that gender differences in anger experiences and expression are related to men's and women's relationship context. We hypothesized that women in traditional relationship contexts would express their anger less directly, and would suppress their anger more, due to expected negative social appraisals. We compared anger reactions to a conflict situation in a traditional and egalitarian relationship context. Eighty-two Dutch adult participants (43 women and 39 men) were recruited partly by students in a psychology class, and partly by a snowball method. They were invited to participate only if they had a steady relationship of minimally one year. The results show that women report more intense subjective anger in both contexts, but that the expression of anger differed with relationship context. In traditional relationships women tend to suppress their anger more than men, while men report to express their anger directly more than women. This difference in anger expression was mediated by negative social appraisals. In egalitarian relationships, this difference was not found.

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“…Crying and mood change 12 (see Vingerhoets & Scheirs, 2000 for an overview) women reported crying more frequently. In addition, they reported less shame over crying and a slightly better mood after crying than men, but these differences were hardly significant.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crying and mood change: A cross-cultural study

Becht¹,

Vingerhoets²

2002

Cognition & Emotion

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This study was designed to determine the influence of crying-related variables and country characteristics on positive mood change after crying. It was hypothesized that mood change would be positively associated to crying frequency, Individualism-Collectivism, and the extent of gender empowerment in a country. Masculinity-Femininity and shame were expected to have a negative relation with mood change. Participants were 1680 male and 2323 female students from 30 countries who provided self-report data on their crying behavior. Although bivariate associations yielded inconsistent results, in a regression analysis Masculinity-Femininity, national income, shame, and crying frequency emerged as significant predictors of mood change, all in the anticipated direction. The results suggest that how one feels after a crying episode depends on how common crying is in one's culture and general feelings of shame over crying. It also seems that (perceptions of) role patterns may play an important part in the experience of mood change.Crying and mood change 3 Crying and mood change: A cross-cultural study While recent research has taught us much about the antecedents and consequences of emotions and emotional behavior (cf.

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Sex differences in crying: Empirical findings and possible explanations

Cited by 83 publications

References 0 publications

Do mood disorders alter crying? a pilot investigation

Do mood disorders alter crying? a pilot investigation

The Social Costs and Benefits of Anger as a Function of Gender and Relationship Context

Crying and mood change: A cross-cultural study

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