Growing up, people would hear that crying makes you feel better so they should let out a good cry. Now, new research published in the Journal of Research in Personality found that crying has no effect on the moods of almost two-thirds of the women who were told to keep a daily emotion journal. They found that only a few of people had mood improvement after their crying episodes.
The study had 97 Dutch women, ages 18-48, logged 1,004 crying episodes as part of their mood journals that they kept over three month period. A crying session lasted on average of 8 minutes. The main reasons for them crying were outcomes of conflict, loss, or empathy over another’s suffering. The results showed that 61% of the women did not feel better while 9% said that they felt sadder after crying. Only 30% wrote that they felt better after crying. This suggests that most people feel better by social support or showings of affection by others.
What do you think of this study?
Professional Medical Corp 