Chemicals in tears
In a research conducted by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, emotional tears from women have been found to reduce sexual arousal in men. Also, emotional tears are made up of a different chemical component than those evoked by eye irritants and can relay chemical messages to others.[13] The change in sex drive could be attributed to a drop in testosterone provoked by the tear chemicals, reducing aggression. In the animal world, it has been found that some blind mole rats rub tears all over their bodies as a strategy to keep aggressive mole rats away.[14]
Tear composition varies from tear types. Mainly, tears are composed of water, salts, antibodies and lysozymes (antibacterial enzymes). According to a discovery by Dr. William H. Frey II, a bio-chemist from St.Paul Ramsey medical center in Minnesota, the composition of tears caused by emotion differs from that of tears as a reaction to irritations, such as onion fumes, dust or allergy. Emotional tears are composed of more protein-based hormones, such as prolactin, andrenocorticotropic, and leucine enkephalin (a natural pain killer), which is suggested to be the mechanism behind the experience of crying from emotion making an individual feel better.[citation needed]
[from Wikipedia]
This article presents a rather interesting debate on the social and biological significance of tears, why humans are the only ones to cry emotionally and why we seem to feel better after crying with a friend. There is ample speculation in the science/ethnography field about tears being evolutionarily developed as biological signals for appeasement, weakness or attachment to an aggressor or dominant figure, which could be represented by the handicap of having our vision blurred. The author eventually contends however that the chemical makeup of our emotional tears have less to do with how they make us feel, than the social contexts and rituals in which we do our crying. He interestingly suggests that sometimes the surprise presence of tears could in fact trick us into feeling sad, merely because we are so culturally trained to make that connection. We've all witnessed the contagion of tears, where one hiccupy sob can set off an entire group of wails.
A psychological test suggested that tears clear up social ambiguity: when subjects were asked to rate the sadness/emotional state of the people in a range of photographs, in which some were crying and others had had their tears digitally removed. The photographs where the tears had been removed were not only rated as less sad, but were even confused for other emotions completely.
This book also discusses the importance of companionship when crying; surprisingly, students in relationships were actually shown to cry more than single students, and people who admit to feeling lonely actually cry less than those who don't. The suggestion is that there's something about the feeling of attachment that comes socially that triggers the desire or acceptable context in which to cry, fostering an emotional bond and vulnerability.
Perhaps this is the idea behind Japan's Crying Clubs where participants can meet up to watch sad movies and have a good sob. It's interesting for a country where public displays of emotion are rather taboo, but it's been successful enough to catch on in London in the form of a strange new clubbing experience.
In a research conducted by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, emotional tears from women have been found to reduce sexual arousal in men. Also, emotional tears are made up of a different chemical component than those evoked by eye irritants and can relay chemical messages to others.[13] The change in sex drive could be attributed to a drop in testosterone provoked by the tear chemicals, reducing aggression. In the animal world, it has been found that some blind mole rats rub tears all over their bodies as a strategy to keep aggressive mole rats away.[14]
Tear composition varies from tear types. Mainly, tears are composed of water, salts, antibodies and lysozymes (antibacterial enzymes). According to a discovery by Dr. William H. Frey II, a bio-chemist from St.Paul Ramsey medical center in Minnesota, the composition of tears caused by emotion differs from that of tears as a reaction to irritations, such as onion fumes, dust or allergy. Emotional tears are composed of more protein-based hormones, such as prolactin, andrenocorticotropic, and leucine enkephalin (a natural pain killer), which is suggested to be the mechanism behind the experience of crying from emotion making an individual feel better.[citation needed]
[from Wikipedia]
This article presents a rather interesting debate on the social and biological significance of tears, why humans are the only ones to cry emotionally and why we seem to feel better after crying with a friend. There is ample speculation in the science/ethnography field about tears being evolutionarily developed as biological signals for appeasement, weakness or attachment to an aggressor or dominant figure, which could be represented by the handicap of having our vision blurred. The author eventually contends however that the chemical makeup of our emotional tears have less to do with how they make us feel, than the social contexts and rituals in which we do our crying. He interestingly suggests that sometimes the surprise presence of tears could in fact trick us into feeling sad, merely because we are so culturally trained to make that connection. We've all witnessed the contagion of tears, where one hiccupy sob can set off an entire group of wails.
A psychological test suggested that tears clear up social ambiguity: when subjects were asked to rate the sadness/emotional state of the people in a range of photographs, in which some were crying and others had had their tears digitally removed. The photographs where the tears had been removed were not only rated as less sad, but were even confused for other emotions completely.
This book also discusses the importance of companionship when crying; surprisingly, students in relationships were actually shown to cry more than single students, and people who admit to feeling lonely actually cry less than those who don't. The suggestion is that there's something about the feeling of attachment that comes socially that triggers the desire or acceptable context in which to cry, fostering an emotional bond and vulnerability.
Perhaps this is the idea behind Japan's Crying Clubs where participants can meet up to watch sad movies and have a good sob. It's interesting for a country where public displays of emotion are rather taboo, but it's been successful enough to catch on in London in the form of a strange new clubbing experience.
