Tears for Better, for Worse: Typology and Measure of Crying in Romantic Relationships

People typically cry in the presence of their romantic partners, yet the social functions of this behavior within couples remain unknown. Drawing on the social glue model of tears and prior research on manipulative crying, we identified five distinct types of crying in romantic relationships and created the Crying in Romantic Relationships Questionnaire (CRRQ) to measure them. The CRRQ was developed and validated across three studies in Polish and UK samples (N = 849). In the Preliminary Study, individuals described real-life situations in which people might cry in the presence of their partners. Based on their answers, we created an initial item pool. Study 1 examined the psychometric properties of the pool, revealing that the CRRQ comprises five factors, each representing a different type of crying: relationship discomfort, relationship comfort, other-oriented concern, emotion regulation, and manipulation. The results also supported the scale’s reliability and validity. Study 2 provided further evidence for the five-dimensional structure of the CRRQ and its good psychometric properties. Overall, the results indicate that the CRRQ is a reliable and valid measure of five distinct types of crying in romantic relationships.