Why We Cry When We are
Happy and May smile When We Are Very Sad.
As a family we often watch an emotional TV recording of my brother-in-law
coming home from the Gulf War. As he gets off the plane, my sister and the
children are running towards him crying, not looking happy at all. Have you
ever seen someone cry when they are happy or have a smile on their face when
they are sad? New research shows people use “negative”
emotion to stabilize their feeling. The research study is below. I am
fascinated by this nonverbal behavior. I love to see happy crying. It is such a
sincere, amazing behavior to witness. On the other hand, I find it deeply
disturbing when I analyze interrogation videos or courtroom footage of
suspected murders for the media and I see them give what I call a “cover smile”
when they relay some of the most hideous aspects of the crime. In this case the
suspect is trying to regulate the emotions of guilt by smiling to look innocent
and it feels disturbing to us to watch. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141111124047.htm
November 11, 2014
Yale University
The phrase 'tears of
joy' never made much sense to one American psychologist. But after conducting a
series of studies of such seemingly incongruous expressions, she now
understands better why people cry when they are happy.
he phrase "tears
of joy" never made much sense to Yale psychologist Oriana Aragon. But
after conducting a series of studies of such seemingly incongruous expressions,
she now understands better why people cry when they are happy.
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"People may be
restoring emotional equilibrium with these expressions," said Aragon, lead
author of work to be published in the journal Psychological Science.
"They seem to take place when people are overwhelmed with strong positive
emotions, and people who do this seem to recover better from those strong
emotions."
There are many
examples of responding to a positive experience with a negative emotion. A
crying spouse is reunited with a soldier returning from war. Teen girls scream
at a Justin Bieber concert and so do soccer players as they score a winning
goal. The baseball player who hits a winning home run is pounded at home plate
by teammates. And when introduced to babies "too cute for words,"
some can't resist pinching their cheeks.
"I was surprised
no one ever asked why that is," she said.
Aragon and her
colleagues at Yale ran subjects through some of these scenarios and measured
their responses to cute babies or happy reunions. They found that individuals
who express negative reactions to positive news were able to moderate intense
emotions more quickly. They also found people who are most likely to cry at
their child's graduation are most likely to want to pinch a cute baby's cheeks.
There is also some
evidence that strong negative feelings may provoke positive expressions; for
example nervous laughter appears when people are confronted with a difficult or
frightening situations, and smiles have been found by other psychologists to
occur during extreme sadness.
These new discoveries
begin to explain common things that many people do but don't even understand
themselves, Aragon said.
"These insights
advance our understanding of how people express and control their emotions,
which is importantly related to mental and physical health, the quality of
relationships with others, and even how well people work together," she
said.
Story Source:
The above story is
based on materials provided by Yale University. The original article was written by Bill Hathaway. Note:
Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference:
1. E. J. Boothby, M. S. Clark, J. A. Bargh. Shared
Experiences Are Amplified. Psychological Science, 2014; DOI: 10.1177/0956797614551162
Cite This Page:
Yale University.
"Why 'I'm so happy I could cry' makes sense." ScienceDaily.
ScienceDaily, 11 November 2014.
Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at
www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at
www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at
http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.
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