the results were inconclusive and in some areas con-
tradictory. Despite the fact that these studies were
conducted in different cultures, it was found that on
average, extra handling, on-demand feeding, and
other nurturing from the mother made little differ-
ence to the amount of crying or even to the specific
times the babies cried. In fact, evening time proved
to be the peak time for infant crying across the board,
and gender was shown to have no impact on the
amount or duration.
It has been shown through a longitudinal study
of twenty-six infant-mother pairs in 1972 by Bell and
Ainsworth that there does exist a relationship be-
tween crying and maternal response. Mothers who re-
sponded quickly to a crying baby over the first nine
months actually yielded a baby that cried less after the
nine-month period. It is thought that because of the
prompt attention of the mother, the infant becomes
more secure and less demanding of the mother’s con-
tact. Although other studies have substantiated these
findings, it is not possible to generalize for all infants
because amount of crying depends on the mother’s
responsiveness, personality, individual needs for love
and closeness to mother, and a tolerance for bore-
dom, jealousy, hunger, pain, and fatigue.
The Psychology of Crying
There are several different theories that attest to
the psychology behind crying. As a child develops
from adolescence through adulthood, the causes of
crying encompass all aspects of the human emotional
scale. Now a person can cry for a multitude of reasons
that range from anger, pain, misery, grief, sorrow,
joy, and intense pleasure. One can break down crying
into three different levels that differ in psychological
magnitude.
Level one consists of physiological conditions
such as a broken arm or skinned knee. This is the
same type of crying that infants utilize in the first few
months of life. Even though infants develop out of
this basic level and cry for other reasons, this type of
crying still remains throughout the life of the person.
For example, a five-year-old child will be quick to
shed tears due to a hurt knee or a twenty-five-year-old
person may cry because of intense pain caused by an
injury.
Level two entails moods and emotions. It begins
when an infant cries from anger and develops further
as more feelings are added to their emotional scale.
As the child matures and an increase in self-awareness
ensues, a sense of pride settles in and becomes a sensi-
tive area. So, a fifteen-year-old may not cry as readily
over a hurt knee, but he or she may shed tears due to
humiliation.
Level three consists of deeper emotion usually as-
sociated with intense prayer, or a deep appreciation.
For example, a thirty-year-old person could weep be-
cause of a powerful poem or due to a selfless display
of humanity. Not all people can reach this level of cry-
ing. It demands a higher level of awareness of the
world, self, and relationship between the two.Conclusion
No other study has given conclusive proof that
other species cry. Crying is unique only to humans.
Perhaps that is the reason for the complexity of this
phenomenon. Complex beings bring forth complex
issues that may prove impossible to sufficiently under-
stand. Because of its versatility and unbiased relation
to age, gender, and culture, crying will continue to
puzzle people for years to come.See also: LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT; PARENTING
Bibliography
Abell, Ellen. ‘‘Infant Crying: I’m Trying to Tell You Something.’’
Available from http://www.humsci.auburn.edu/parent/crying/
index.html; INTERNET.
Lester, Barry, and Zachariah Boukydis C. F. Infant Crying: Theoreti-
cal and Research Perspectives. New York: Plenum Press, 1985.
Lutz, Tom. Crying. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1999.
Murry, Thomas, and Joan Murry. Infant Communication: Cry and
Early Speech. Houston, TX: College Hill Press, 1980.
Sammons, W. A. H. The Self-Calmed Baby. Boston: Little Brown,
1989.
Timothy K. LoperCRYING 105