Women's tears contain a chemical that reduces aggression in men; revealed by a recent study published in the PLOS biology.

By. Dahye Kim

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                                    Image: Marilla Sicilia/Zuma/IMAGO

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In a study published in the biology journal PLOS biology, Professor Noam Sobel’s research team at the Weizmann Institute of Neurology in Israel discovered that exposure to the scent of unfamiliar tears led to a decrease in aggressive behaviour in over 40% of male participants. 

 

Investigation and the result:

Professor Noam Sobel's research team discovered the tears changed brain activity in parts of the brain that connect olfaction and aggression. To delve deeper into these findings, the research team collected "emotional" tears from six female donors by making them watch sad movies. 

 

The experiments involved 31 men who sniffed either saline solution or women’s tears before playing a computer game designed to induce aggression by unfairly deducting points. Impressively, men showed 43.7% less aggressive behaviour such as retaliation in the game when they smelled tears than when they smelled saline solution. Brain imaging found that sniffing tears reduced brain activity in regions related to aggression. Functional connectivity between the areas in the brain that deal with odour and the area that control aggression was also found to be higher. “The reduction in aggression was impressive and seemed real,” 

 

Further experiment of tears: Investing why babies cry

Agron, Sobel and their colleagues are now interested in running future experiments to test the effect of women’s tears on other women and that of babies’ tears on adults. Sobel hypotheses that baby tears, in particular, will likely have an aggressiveness-lowering effect on adults. “Babies lack the ability to verbally express their distress, making them particular vulnerable. Their tears likely express their distress, making them particularly vulnerable. Their tears likely serve as a powerful signal to reduce aggression, highlighting the unfortunate reality of violence towards infants.” he said.

 

The fact that people continue to be able to produce tears throughout adulthood, Agron adds, indicates that crying is probably “a behavior that serves us throughout life.”

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