ABSTRACT
“Crying, far more than its opposite, laughing, is a neglected problem of psychology,” Borgquist wrote in 1906. Things do not seem to have changed much since the beginning of the 20th century. Several basic questions concerning crying have not been answered yet and uncorroborated theories and speculations still characterize the field (Vingerhoets et al., 2000). Much research is needed for gaining an understanding of both the causes and the functional significance of crying. Examples of important but still barely investigated questions are: What are the typical situations in which crying occurs? What are the typical emotions accompanying or following a crying spell? What are the personality characteristics of those who often cry and those who hardly do? Are there gender or cultural differences in crying? What is the developmental pattern of crying across the life span?
