Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about relationships, personality, and everyday psychology. This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more. This ...

Good news, bad news, a rough day, a scary movie, a poignant memory, a nostalgic smell—these are all things that can prompt a salty tear to trickle down your cheek. The sensation is quick to sneak up ...

Emily Shave cried at least 100 times in 2023. She cried the most in November — 28 times. And only about 4 percent of her tears were happy ones; most of the time she cried over serious things, ...

Humans are the only animal to produce emotional tears. Asking questions about this behavior can help us better understand how we live our lives. That question has many answers. To start, there are ...

Tears are unique to humans, but distress calls are common among most other mammal and bird young, often when separated from their mothers. Crying extends far beyond infancy. A University of Pittsburgh ...

Research suggests that crying is not a sign of weakness, but one of the most sophisticated social technologies in the natural world.

A dear friend of mine whom I recently lost spent most of his life near the Severn River in Maryland. The Severn is technically a “tidal estuary”—a brackish inlet off the Chesapeake Bay, where salt ...

Goethe wrote about crying, “It’s not the tears we cry that hurt us, but the one’s we struggle not to cry for they drip within our sad and weary hearts.” One of our deepest human needs is to be ...

Tears help you express feelings and manage pain, but they also protect and lubricate your eyes. Difficulty crying may relate to medication, attachment style, or mental or physical health concerns. To ...