Why Crying Isn't Sexy

Tears can occur when something is in one's eye or when one is sad. Tears also differ chemically. This crossover, blinded study explores whether emotionally induced tears convey chemosignals.

First, the investigators collected tears from women after they watched a sad film. The tears had no discernible odor compared with saline trickled down the women's faces (“trickled saline”). Then, the investigators tested whether sniffing tears influenced responses in men (mean age, 28). Twenty-four men sniffed fresh tears and trickled saline, and reported that the compounds did not differ in intensity, pleasantness, and familiarity. Then, a pad with one compound was pasted onto the upper lip of each participant. The men rated responses to emotionally am…