世論 What Japan Thinks

There’s a lot of interesting figures in this recent survey from iShare into what makes people cry.

Demographics

Between the 22nd and 25th of February 2010 502 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.0% of the sample were male, 32.7% in their twenties, 31.9% in their thirties, and 35.5% in their forties.

I was suprised that it was television that makes men cry the most, and also that few people feel that a good sob relieves lots of stress.

For me, it’s probably work that makes me cry the most…

Research results

Q1: About how often do you have occassion to cry? (Sample size=502)

	All	Male N=266	Female N=236
Once a week or more	11.4%	6.8%	16.5%
Once a month	24.9%	16.5%	34.3%
Once every three months	15.7%	15.4%	16.1%
Once every six months	11.8%	10.5%	13.1%
Once every nine months	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%
Once a year	14.3%	18.4%	9.7%
Less than that	21.5%	32.0%	9.7%

Q2: What kind of emotion most often causes you to cry? (Sample size=502)

	All	Male N=266	Female N=236
Being moved	59.8%	65.4%	53.4%
Sadness	17.3%	14.7%	20.3%
Bitterness	6.2%	4.5%	8.1%
Joy	5.4%	7.1%	3.4%
Harshness	3.8%	0.8%	7.2%
Anger	2.0%	1.1%	3.0%
Other	5.6%	6.4%	4.7%

“Harshness” could also be interpreted as “spiciness” as they share the same kanji, but I don’t think curry is an emotional experience.

Q3: What most often causes you to cry? (Sample size=502)

	All	Male N=266	Female N=236
Television programs	28.5%	28.6%	28.4%
Movies	26.3%	32.7%	19.1%
Human relations	19.9%	14.3%	26.3%
Books	8.2%	7.1%	9.3%
Work	3.4%	2.3%	4.7%
Music	2.2%	1.9%	2.5%
Participating in an event	1.6%	2.3%	0.8%
Other	10.0%	10.9%	8.9%

Q4: When crying, do you hold back the tears or sobs? (Sample size=502)

	All	Male N=266	Female N=236
Always hold back	24.1%	27.8%	19.9%
Usually hold back	46.0%	38.0%	55.1%
Sometimes hold back	18.5%	20.3%	16.5%
Never hold back	11.4%	13.9%	8.5%

Q5: Do you relieve stress when you cry? (Sample size=502)

	All	Male N=266	Female N=236
Completely relieve	14.3%	10.2%	19.1%
Relieve a little	49.4%	44.7%	54.7%
Don’t relieve	36.3%	45.1%	26.3%