Research by Robert Provine, professor of psychology, and his research team was featured in the Boston Globe The article noted Provine’s research in “Evolutionary Psychology” on how tears may have evolved to enhance the power of facial expressions of emotions. Provine’s team of researchers asked 80 undergraduates to rate the intensity of facial expressions of sadness in photos. Because tears are so involuntary, the idea that people can make themselves cry to manipulate others is, for most adults, “totally erroneous,’’ Provine said. “We have had actors come in and try to cry in front of us and they can’t do it – and we needed the tears to study!’’
The article, “Why we cry is an emotional topic,” ran Monday, March 8.
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