We cry when we're sad, but where do tears of joy come from? A study published in the journal Psychological Science suggests that "happy tears" are the body's way of reestablishing "emotional equilibrium," according to news.com.au. The extreme reaction to a positive emotion may help recovery from a negative emotion.
"People may be restoring emotional equilibrium with these expressions," Oriana Aragon, study lead and psychological scientist at Yale University, said in Psychological Science. "They seem to take place when people are overwhelmed with strong positive emotions, and people who do this seem to recover better from those strong emotions."
Remember all those girls crying when they saw The Beatles? It's the same balancing act as a wife crying when her husband returns from war.
Or that urge you get to pinch a baby's cheeks and just "eat them up?" Or that overwhelming freak out you might have when you see an adorable internet kitten? That's your body balancing itself out.
According to Aragon, individuals who express a negative emotion during a positive experience are able to control those emotions more than individuals who don't. "These insights advance our understanding of how people express and control their emotions, which is importantly related to mental and physical health, the quality of relationships with others, and even how well people work together," she told Psychological Science.
