Abstract
Why Only Humans Weep is an interdisciplinary exploration of the experience of crying, and whether the production of emotional tears may be unique to human beings. This book is novel, both because it represents a comprehensive study of crying, on which there is little other research, and because Vingerhoets provides insight into crying from a range of disciplines, referencing anthropological, biological, psychological, and historical literature.
The text is well informed and current. The book does not seek to provide definitive explanations about human crying, nor is it focused on reviewing empirical research on this phenomenon, as little such research exists. Instead, Vingerhoets references both scientific research and historical and cultural accounts to survey existing knowledge and theories surrounding the phenomenon of crying.
In the book, Vingerhoets presents a detailed and accessible model of crying, which illuminates its biological and social function. Through this model, Vingerhoets is successfully able to address the broad issues that underpin the human experience of crying, illustrating how psychobiological, cognitive, emotional, and social processes interact to inform this phenomenon. The book is structured according to this model, which enables the reader the flexibility to read the book cover to cover, or to explore different components of the model by reading chapters individually. While this structure has resulted in some repetition across chapters, this is advantageous for a book with such breadth, as it makes it accessible by enabling it to be read in segments.
Vingerhoets introduces the topic by: summarizing theories about crying over time, including its causes and functions; describing his model of adult crying; and outlining the remainder of the book. In the subsequent chapters, Vingerhoets then discusses: the origin and functions of crying (chapter 2); a neurobiological exploration of tear production (chapter 3); a developmental approach to crying, examining our experience of it over our lifetime (chapter 4); reasons that we cry (antecedents) and the situations (e.g. social context) in which we cry (chapter 5); the function and effects of crying for the individual (chapter 6); the factors influencing social perceptions of crying and responses to it (the social effects of tears) (chapter 7); social context and the cultural meaning of crying (chapter 8); intra-personal and inter-personal differences in crying (chapter 9); gender differences in crying (chapter 10); the relationship between crying and health (chapter 11); the experience of ‘excessive crying’ (chapter 12); and a historical summary of cultural representations of crying and tears, and their roles and meaning (chapter 13). Finally, in the epilogue Vingerhoets summarizes his main conclusions about the phenomenon of crying (chapter 14).
The book is relevant to scientists and scholars from a range of disciplines, including psychology, anthropology, history, biology, theology, philosophy, and medicine. In addition, the book is relevant to and accessible for those in the general public with an interest in the origin, physiology, and meaning or function of crying. While these diverse audiences may find different parts of the text significant, all readers will come away with insight into the complexity of this experience, the array of explanations proposed throughout history with regards to the phenomenon of crying, and which theories may be feasible or substantiated.
Why Only Humans Weep demonstrates that the phenomenon of human crying is informed by the interaction of culture and biology, and provides the audience with an understanding of the function of tears. Ultimately, in this book, Vingerhoets illuminates that the meaning of tears must be contextualized within the social and cultural environment in which it occurs.