Is crying good for you? It depends

[double click to enlarge image]

This post about crying behavior is way off task for the focus of my blog. But the title of the article captured my attention, and upon further review, I discovered, much to my delight (and preference for good model-based research) that the article presented a nice conceptual/theoretical model for understanding crying behavior.


Bottom line---according to Rottenberg et al. (2008) a "good cry" may be beneficial...but sometimes it is not and it may exacerbate stress. Crying, like many human behaviors, is the result of a complex interaction of personal individual difference variables and environmental settings. The authors model (see nice visual-graphic represenation above) suggests that the pros/cons of crying are a function of (a) how crying behavior is measured in research, (b) the conditions in the social environment in which a person is operating, (c) individual personality traits of the crier, and (d) the affective (emotional) state of the crier at the time.

Having a "good cry" is not always beneficial...but sometimes it is. Again...the complexity of human behavior is confirmed.

It all "depends"..........

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, personality, crying, emotions, affective