Emotional tears as social motivators: When and how tearing up motivates social support

被引:3
作者
Zickfeld, Janis H. [1 ,3 ]
Wrobel, Monika [2 ]
机构
[1] Aarhus Univ, Dept Management, Aarhus, Denmark
[2] Univ Lodz, Inst Psychol, Lodz, Poland
[3] Aarhus Univ, Fuglesangsalle 4, DK-8210 Aarhus V, Denmark
关键词
emotional tears; crying; emotion; social support; prosocial behavior; ADULT TEARS; SADNESS; EMPATHY; ANGER; GENDER; IMPACT; MOOD; INDIVIDUALS; COMPASSION; EXPRESSION;
D O I
10.1111/spc3.12921
中图分类号
B84 [心理学];
学科分类号
04 ; 0402 ;
摘要
Emotional tears represent a basic expressive response that is most likely unique to humans. Researchers have debated the specific function of this phenomenon, with recent propositions suggesting that it mainly works as an interpersonal communicative signal motivating observers to provide help and social support to the tearful person. Here, we review evidence when and how emotional tears can act as a social motivator. Based on the emotions as social information (EASI) model, we investigate the importance of emotional expression, observer's inferences, observer's affective reactions, and situational determinants and integrate them to derive a model explaining the interpersonal functions of emotional tears. Overall, most evidence supports the idea that people tearing up, compared to people not tearing up in the exact same situation, are evaluated as less agentic, more communal, and elicit feelings of compassion in observers, which in turn is associated with higher support intentions. These relations are likely moderated by the perceived appropriateness of the expression, which is determined by the characteristics of the expression, the expresser, the observer, and the situation. Our review identifies several gaps, suggesting that the specific relations among the different variables are yet to be determined and methods should focus on more ecologically valid designs and behavioral measures.
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页数:16
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