--- description: Ever wonder about why humans cry? Find out if you're the only one who sobs at sappy movies by taking this quiz about crying. title: What Type of Crier Are You? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce288c79443e58dd/69888b09f887dcea24e950a6/what-type-of-crier-are-you-fb.jpg?branch=production ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Mental Health/Psychology](/tag/mental-healthpsychology/) ## Mental Health/Psychology Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # What Type of Crier Are You? by [Mandy Oaklander](/author/mandy-oaklander/) and [David Johnson](/author/dave-johnson/) Mar 16, 2016 1:59 PM CUT by [Mandy Oaklander](/author/mandy-oaklander/) and [David Johnson](/author/dave-johnson/) Mar 16, 2016 1:59 PM CUT Maybe you have a good sob every week, or haven’t shed a tear in years. Either way, if you’re human, you’ve shed an emotional tear or two. That makes you unique among the world’s species: though other creatures tear up because of physical pain or irritation, we are the only ones whose tears can be triggered by their emotions. But why do we cry? That question has persisted for centuries (and is the subject of a recent [feature article](http://time.com/4254089/science-crying/ "undefined") in TIME). Now, scientists are beginning to understand why humans shed tears—and why some don’t. Find out how your crying habits compare to those of others by taking the survey below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4254414/crying-tears/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4254414/crying-tears/"},"headline":"What Type of Crier Are You?","datePublished":"2016-03-16T13:59:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T12:03:18.817Z","description":"Take this quiz to see if you cry more or less than average","url":"https://time.com/4254414/crying-tears/","keywords":["Mental Health/Psychology","Psychology","quiz","Crying"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce288c79443e58dd/69888b09f887dcea24e950a6/what-type-of-crier-are-you-fb.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"David Johnson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dave-johnson/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce288c79443e58dd/69888b09f887dcea24e950a6/what-type-of-crier-are-you-fb.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"what-type-of-crier-are-you-fb","caption":"what-type-of-crier-are-you-fb","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mental-healthpsychology/","name":"Mental Health/Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4254414/crying-tears/","name":"What Type of Crier Are You?"}}]}] ```