Physiology At Work

There’s been plenty of research done with the aim of understanding how anatomical differences in men and women play a part in how often they shed those tears.

“Women actually have smaller tear ducts than men, which make it easier for the tears to spill out”
Also, emotional tears (the kind you get after watching those sappy rom-coms) have high levels of a hormone known as prolactin. This hormone also helps in milk production and is quite obviously, found more abundantly in women than men.

Fertility Makes It Worse

“Researchers have even found higher instances of crying in women who are in their fertile years, somewhere between 13 to 35 years of age”
A possible explanation for this is the hormones that come into effect in order to help you conceive and carry a baby. In their fertile years, women’s menstrual cycles are in full swing and work a little too aggressively, making it that much easier to get those waterworks flowing.

Testosterone Troubles

“Testosterone, the male sex hormone, tends to fuel anger and aggravate angry reactions“
Testosterone plays a huge role in keeping the tears at bay. Men often get angry in scenarios where their less-testosterone fueled counterparts may be driven to a crying jag. This can be particularly troublesome for men because tears are actually proven to help your body get rid of stress-related toxins!

“Boys Don’t Cry”

“Unlike women who are always given a huge leeway to express themselves freely (even by crying), men are always told to toughen up”
There’s a huge psychological aspect to differences in tearing up in men and women. Boys are taught early on that they need to be tough and brave. It’s basically social conditioning at work. With so much pressure to suppress their tears, by the time they touch adulthood, they’re well trained to not let out those tears too easily.

Tastes And Personal Preferences

“It’s possible that one of the reasons why women cry more is simply because they are exposed to more emotional stimuli”
One possibility that hasn’t been accounted for is general differences in taste and preferences between men and women. This is in terms of things as basic as music, movies etc. Women tend to be more drawn towards emotion-driven stuff than men do.


Thank you