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Why do you cry when you’re happy? Here’s the answer

WE ARE at the happiest we have ever been, so why are we bawling our eyes out? Psychologists finally believe they have the answer.

Annice Smoel arrives at Melbourne Airport from Thailand where she was arrested for stealing a bar mat. Annice's eldest daughter Zhian, 12, hugs her mother with tears of joy.
Annice Smoel arrives at Melbourne Airport from Thailand where she was arrested for stealing a bar mat. Annice's eldest daughter Zhian, 12, hugs her mother with tears of joy.

WHEN you think about it, it seems quite weird that you cry when you are overwhelmingly happy. But finally some psychologists believe they know why.

That reason being, that crying tears of joy may be the body’s way of restoring “emotional equilibrium”.

The idea is that, by reacting to an overwhelming positive emotion with an equally negative one, people are better able to recover from strong emotions.

The study is not just for our curiosity, results could help advance the understanding of people’s mental help.

The report published in journal Psychological Science, uses examples from a teenage girl screaming at a Justin Bieber concert to a wife crying when she is reunited with her husband returning from war.

Oriana Aragon, a psychologist from Yale University who led the study, wrote that individuals who were able to express a negative reaction to positive news were able to manage their intense emotions quicker.

There was also some relationship between an individual’s emotions and different scenarios. For example, it was found that people who were most likely to cry at their children graduating school are also most likely to want to pinch a baby’s cheeks.

The idea of opposite emotions balancing us out works the other way, too. Nervous laughter can occur when people are confronted with difficulty or frightened, while psychologists also believe people sometimes smile when they are at their saddest.

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/evolution/why-do-you-cry-when-youre-happy-heres-the-answer/news-story/e95dc7af5c104fb819b61aee2f6d7b6d