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The Effect Of A Woman's Tears

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Perhaps you heard about the study which looked at the effect of women crying on men and how they feel about them. The study was performed in Israel and although it wasn't the most statistically significant study in research history the premise was fascinating.

Here is what the researchers did: to test whether tears induced by sadness could send some sort of signal to other people, the researchers performed a series of experiments in which they exposed men to the odor of human tears, specifically those obtained from women crying during a sad movie. Tear-infused pads were placed under the noses of up to 90 men who then reported on the levels of sexual attraction and arousal to pictures of women's faces.

When men were exposed to tears they had lower levels of testosterone than when they were exposed to salt water. Essentially, the tears of sadness had a negative effect on desire for a woman.

The most interesting part of the study is the idea that not all of our emotions are consciously controlled and there are many things that have impact we would not have thought of.

Reported By Dr. Brian McDonough, KYW Newsradio Medical Editor

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