Situation-dependent emotion regulation in Japanese university students: Crying alone or in the presence of others?

This study aimed to investigate everyday crying among Japanese university students using a questionnaire survey and to examine how the choice to cry in the presence of others or alone was influenced by the context of the crying episode. Analyses were conducted on data from 169 participants, focusing on those who reported at least one crying experience across six categories of everyday crying. To capture differences across crying situations, crying experiences were examined across six categories, while also considering the individual's empathy and personality traits. The results indicated that Japanese young adults with higher agreeableness scores tend to suppress crying in the presence of others in situations involving empathic responses to others' distress, specifically when crying was triggered by a close person's sadness. These findings support the idea that individuals high in agreeableness may suppress tears to avoid making others uncomfortable in situations where they empathize with the pain of others. Crying may be understood not only as a personal emotional reaction but also as a socially regulated behavior shaped by interpersonal contexts.