On the Social Signal Function of Emotional Crying: Broadening the Perspective to Social Interactions in Daily Life

Abstract

Emotional crying is a potent signal that can influence how social interactions unfold. Although the social signal function of crying has been mostly studied in experimental approaches involving hypothetical scenarios with strangers as targets, we propose that daily social interactions should be considered to address aspects of external validity. We conducted three retrospective studies (total N = 2,277; convenience samples; Studies 2 and 3 were preregistered; data were collected in 2022 and 2023) and found that individuals primarily observed close others crying in their daily lives; a boundary condition that was hardly reflected in former studies. Crying episodes were typically characterized by tears and changes in facial expression, vocalizations, and gestures, whereas isolated emotional tears, were rarely reported. Participants indicated that they frequently helped close others, but that helping strangers was the exception. The level of familiarity with the target also influenced the form of help provided. Furthermore, the crying person was rated as less warm and less competent when crying (vs. in general or in a neutral situation). Additional analyses suggest that question order effects and recall biases are no plausible alternative explanations of our findings. Taken together, these results call into question the validity of the experimental approaches used in this line of research. We discuss strategies for future study of the social signal function of crying in nonhypothetical scenarios with reference to the “generalizability crisis” of psychological science.