Jul 16, 2025 08:46 PM
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1090566
INTRO: A new study adds to evidence suggesting that people’s perceptions of others’ tears as sincere or manipulative likely depends on a variety of contextual factors. The findings suggest tears may be perceived as more honest when shed in non-manipulative social situations and by people who are less expected to cry. Monika Wróbel of the University of Lodz, Poland, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on July 16, 2025.
Emotional tears are often perceived as sincere social signals, perhaps because it is difficult to cry on demand. In contrast, widespread belief holds that tears can also be shed strategically to manipulate others; i.e., “crocodile tears.”
However, few studies have systematically explored the circumstances in which tears are perceived to be sincere or not. To gain deeper insight, Wróbel and colleagues conducted experiments in which thousands of participants shared their perceptions of faces in photographs, some of which had been edited to appear tearful. The faces varied in their conveyed warmth and were presented in hypothetical situations that were manipulative or not—for instance, the person in the photo is trying to cut in line to see a doctor (manipulative) versus waiting to see a doctor and speaking with a receptionist (non-manipulative). Participants also completed a questionnaire assessing their own personality traits.
Analysis of participants’ responses showed that, while tears had a very small overall effect on how participants perceived the honesty of people in the photos, certain contextual factors did appear to influence the strength of this effect.
Most notably, tears tended to increase participants’ perceptions of honesty more strongly for female photo subjects with lower warmth ratings and for men, who are typically perceived as less warm. This suggests the possibility that shedding tears might be more beneficial for people who are less expected to cry. Tears were also perceived as more honest in the context of non-manipulative situations.
Overall, the findings support the idea that context is key for the perception of tears as honest or not, with multiple factors affecting the context. Additional research is needed to disentangle these factors and their effects... (MORE - details, no ads)
INTRO: A new study adds to evidence suggesting that people’s perceptions of others’ tears as sincere or manipulative likely depends on a variety of contextual factors. The findings suggest tears may be perceived as more honest when shed in non-manipulative social situations and by people who are less expected to cry. Monika Wróbel of the University of Lodz, Poland, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on July 16, 2025.
Emotional tears are often perceived as sincere social signals, perhaps because it is difficult to cry on demand. In contrast, widespread belief holds that tears can also be shed strategically to manipulate others; i.e., “crocodile tears.”
However, few studies have systematically explored the circumstances in which tears are perceived to be sincere or not. To gain deeper insight, Wróbel and colleagues conducted experiments in which thousands of participants shared their perceptions of faces in photographs, some of which had been edited to appear tearful. The faces varied in their conveyed warmth and were presented in hypothetical situations that were manipulative or not—for instance, the person in the photo is trying to cut in line to see a doctor (manipulative) versus waiting to see a doctor and speaking with a receptionist (non-manipulative). Participants also completed a questionnaire assessing their own personality traits.
Analysis of participants’ responses showed that, while tears had a very small overall effect on how participants perceived the honesty of people in the photos, certain contextual factors did appear to influence the strength of this effect.
Most notably, tears tended to increase participants’ perceptions of honesty more strongly for female photo subjects with lower warmth ratings and for men, who are typically perceived as less warm. This suggests the possibility that shedding tears might be more beneficial for people who are less expected to cry. Tears were also perceived as more honest in the context of non-manipulative situations.
Overall, the findings support the idea that context is key for the perception of tears as honest or not, with multiple factors affecting the context. Additional research is needed to disentangle these factors and their effects... (MORE - details, no ads)