Why Do People Cry Tears Of Joy?

Crying is usually associated with feelings related to loss, sadness, disappointment or melancholy. Tears help us express sadness, frustration or anxiety. Virtually all negative emotions and feelings. However, there are also situations where we cry tears of joy. This can be associated with illusion, relief and excitement, among other emotions. It can be difficult to understand, but tears of joy are not so uncommon when we are touched by positive emotions.

This can seem very contradictory. How can a form of expression with negative connotations correlate with a feeling of joy and happiness? In this article we will present you with the answer to this strange phenomenon. The answer comes via very interesting research studies.

Crossing emotions

You may cry when you finally hear the news you have been waiting for, when someone opens up to you, or when you are surprised. There can be many different occasions where a happy event can cause you to react in this contradictory way.

However, crying is not the only form of external expression of emotions. You may also feel a desire to pinch the cheek of a sweet child, or to gently bite a person you are attracted to. This can also go in the opposite direction. For example, in the face of extreme sadness or aggression, you may find yourself smiling, or laughing nervously.

These reactions are automatic and have no obvious logic behind them. However, understanding the connection between positive emotions and negative expressions (and vice versa) is important for understanding why people cry tears of joy.

Why do people cry tears of joy?

To restore emotional balance

Oriana Aragón, a psychologist at Yale University, has conducted several studies on this topic. Under the name “dimorphic expression”, she studies and evaluates the studies she conducts in the presence of emotional manifestations that apparently have nothing to do with the emotion a person experiences.

This is not about the coexistence of a positive emotional state with a negative one. We refer to an emotion which, although purely positive, manifests itself as a “negative” expression in its manifestation. In the study Aragón conducted, she presented positive stimuli to the subjects and evaluated the way they reacted.

The results showed that those who express themselves through negative reactions were able to moderate the intensity of their emotions more easily. In other words, she found that tears of joy were a way for these people to regain their balance after an overwhelming emotion. It is as if the negative expression counteracted the intensity of the positive emotion in order to achieve a balance.

This brings us to an interesting question. Why would certain people want to set a limit to a sense of joy and perfection? Basically, feeling extreme joy can cause some people to go into a state of shock. This will of course affect their ability to make good decisions and decisions. Restoring emotional balance is necessary to function optimally.

To communicate

Furthermore, tears of joy are not only intended to maintain internal homeostasis. They are also an important source of communication. One study found that the response people tend to offer those who express joy by either smiling or crying is significantly different. In the first case, they most often join the celebration and share the person’s joy. It is believed that this is in a desire to prolong the experience of happiness.

However, in the face of tears of joy, people respond in a way that can help the individual to regulate and reduce the level of emotional intensity they experience. In this case, they perceive the emotional abundance, and act accordingly. In this way, they can help regulate the intensity.

People cry tears of joy and bite with love

Thanks to these studies and the research that has been done, we are able to shed light on behaviors that may seem inexplicable. When you experience a positive emotion (whatever it may be) to an extreme extent, you are basically forced to react in the opposite way to balance your system.

This may explain why some of us may from time to time look at our partner, and feel the need to bite them or “hurt” them in some other way. Such an intense flow of love, illusion and gratitude can be overwhelming. So overwhelming that they react with aggression. In conclusion, this is why many of us compensate for these emotional peaks.

Thus, when you experience reacting with aggression or tears to very positive events, do not panic. This mechanism is completely normal and necessary. Similarly, when you see someone crying with joy, remember that the happiness they experience is so intense that it transcends the most natural expression of emotion.

Tears are not a sign of weakness or drama. On the contrary, they are a direct expression of the person’s massive ability to feel. Emotions are powerful. And some of them can be so intense that the body has to use slightly unconventional ways to keep its balance.