Crying: Call for a Lifespan Approach Jonathan Rottenberg 1 * and Ad J. J. M. Vingerhoets 2 1 University of South Florida 2 Tilburg University Abstract Although crying is woven through the life course, from the doctor’s slap to a deathbed vigil, there is no well-established lifespan tradition of studying crying. Instead the study of crying is broken into separate bodies of work on childhood (mostly on infants) and on adults. In this contribution, we share our enthusiasm and our ideas for the construction of a lifespan narrative of crying behavior. The evolutionary and phylogenic basis of crying is first outlined. We high- light the most important transitions in humans, including changes in the antecedents of crying, and the ways crying is increasingly regulated. We piece together existing research on these tran- sitions and identify key gaps in knowledge, including the developmental periods, such as adoles- cence and old age, that have been the most seriously neglected. Finally, we suggest key empirical and methodological future directions that will most invigorate the study of crying as a developmental phenomenon. Introduction Few behaviors touch so many different areas of psychology as crying. Its importance in signaling distress and difficulties makes it relevant to clinical psychology. Its anchoring in a specific physiological response, lacrimation, puts it in the domain of biological psychol- ogy and neuroscience. Despite its strong biological foundation, human crying is also a profoundly cultural activity. From political campaigns to schoolyard bullies, few behaviors are as pregnant with meaning as crying, which puts it in the domain of social and cultural psychology. Finally, there are massive individual differences in who cries in what circum- stances, which puts crying in the domain of personality psychology. Crying should also be of keen interest to developmental psychologists. It punctuates the life course from the doctor’s first slap to our final moments. The antecedents of crying are diverse – from being separated from one’s mother, meeting strangers, skin- ning one’s knee on the playground, to weddings, bar-mitzahs, reunions, petty squab- bles, sentimental movies, and funerals – but often it signifies something important has happened. Given the ways that crying is woven through the life course, it is hard to imagine a behavior more suited for a developmental analysis. Indeed in this article, we will describe both dramatic developmental changes in crying, as well as notable consistencies. Despite the promise of this area of study (see Zeifman, 2001a; Nelson, 2005 for mod- els), the developmental tradition in the study of crying has not been fully realized. One factor that has hindered progress is that current research on crying is divided into two nearly totally disconnected subfields. One that concerns crying in babies, which may also con- sider toddlers, and another that considers crying in adulthood, which is generally under- stood as but a single developmental phase. The two subfields have grown up in isolation from one another. Consequently, we lack the means to confidently assess whether child Social and Personality Psychology Compass 6/3 (2012): 217–227, 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2012.00426.x ª 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd