- Researchers conducted experiments with more than 1,000 people from Great Britain
- According to the research, there are four types of crying that are related to behavior
If you've ever cried uncontrollably at a movie, you probably have a good moral compass, according to a new scientific study.
People who are prone to crying are more likely to give to charity and have a greater aversion to lying and waiting in lines.
Crying, which attracted much social disapproval in Victorian times, is still associated with weakness and vulnerability.
But researchers who conducted experiments on more than a thousand people from Britain said: 'People who cry more easily show stronger disapproval of moral transgressions and tend to be more willing to engage in pro-social behavior.'
According to the research, there are four types of crying. “Attachment tears” are shed in response to events such as separations and reunions, while “social tears” follow conflict within a group.
If you've ever cried uncontrollably at a movie, you probably have a good moral compass, a new scientific study shows
“Compassionate tears” flow when you see others in need or pain, and “sentimental tears” are tears that come while watching an emotional scene in a movie or drama.
Previous research has found that people who cry are perceived as more honest, trustworthy and sincere than non-cryers, but the new study is the first to examine whether cryers actually meet these evaluations.
In six experiments, the researchers asked men and women about their tendency to cry.
Questions included “how likely are you to be moved to tears when you read a book or watch a movie?”
Researchers from Aarhus University, Denmark (pictured) conducted experiments on more than 1,000 people from Britain
They were then tested and asked about their attitudes toward thirty types of moral transgressions, including lying, false confessions and queuing.
The study found that those who admitted to crying at books and movies were also among the group who hated bad moral behavior.
Scientists believe that crying can induce altruism and empathy. One theory is that shedding tears acts as an exclamation point, emphasizing the meaning of what we are experiencing and reinforcing moral values.
“Future studies are needed, but it seems there is something to the old idea that only good people cry,” the researchers from Aarhus University, Denmark, said in the Social Psychological Bulletin.