Why Are You Crying? Some People Are Sad Even When They're Happy

Sometimes our emotions can be a little all over the place, which may explain why happiness oftentimes comes with a bit of tears. Recent findings published in the journal Psychological Science reveal that people who feel intense emotions may feel so overwhelmed that they can cry even if those feelings are happy.

Researchers examined dimorphous expressions that were defined as experiencing one strong emotion while exhibiting two expression. This might include feeling extreme happiness, beginning with laughter and crying.

Volunteers were asked to report their emotions after looking at pictures of babies, with pictures that were modified so that the babies had rounder faces and larger eyes.

The exaggerated features were supposed to result in a "cuteness overload," causing participants to look at pictures of modified babies and report the strongest emotions. These participants stated that they felt happy to the point where the emotion started to become overwhelming.

Participants were more likely to pick aggressive expressions that including pinching the baby's cheeks. Yet they had a better ability to regulate these intense emotions that participants who did not choose aggressive expressions.

"People who peaked really high after seeing the babies actually got back down better from the experience," said lead study author Oriana Aragón, PhD, a psychologist at Yale University, according to TIME.

Participants also reported having intense feelings like crying during happy events such as reuniting with loved ones. They concluded that tears can be a normal form of expression during happy times for many people.

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