A Call for the Empirical Investigation of Tear Stimuli

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Sarah J. Krivan¹  Nicole A. Thomas² 

[1] Department of Psychology, Applied Attention and Perceptual Processing Laboratory, College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook University;Applied Attention and Perceptual Processing Laboratory, School of Psychological Sciences, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University

关键词: tear effect;    face perception;    adult crying;    emotion;    interpersonal communication;    crocodile tears;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00052

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Emotional crying is a uniquely human behavior, which typically elicits helping and empathic responses from observers. However, tears can also be used to deceive. “Crocodile tears” are insincere tears used to manipulate the observer and foster prosocial responses. The ability to discriminate between genuine and fabricated emotional displays is critical to social functioning. When insincere emotional displays are detected, they are most often met with backlash. Conversely, genuine displays foster prosocial responses. However, the majority of crying research conducted to date has used posed stimuli featuring artificial tears. As such it is yet to be determined how the artificial nature of these displays impacts person perception. Throughout this article, we discuss the necessity for empirical investigation of the differences (or similarities) in responses to posed and genuine tearful expressions. We will explore the recent adoption of genuine stimuli in emotion research and review the existing research using tear stimuli. We conclude by offering suggestions and considerations for future advancement of the emotional crying field through investigation of both posed and genuine tear stimuli.

【 授权许可】

CC BY