A common belief among people is that women are cry babies. If this belief is true, then why is it so?

Girls and boys cry about the same amount of times until they reach the age of twelve, by the time they are eighteen women cry on average four times more than men. That is about 5.3 cries a month compared to a man's 1.4 times per month according to research by Dr. William Frey who studies tears.

So the old belief is true, women do cry more than men. But scientists still do not know exactly why this is true. One theory is that women cry more than men mostly because of social conditioning. As males are growing up they are urged to excel and become powerful, to never show their emotions, to be tough, independent, demanding, aggressive and good problem-solvers.

Males in our culture often hear things like, don't be a sissy, don't whine like a little girl, be self-sufficient, powerful and dominate others. In comparison to females who are taught to be a lady, express their emotions and value their looks and charm.

Although these ideals and values of society are changing they still do exist. Another thought is that women cry more than men due to the physical and hormonal difference between them.

The hormone prolactin is present in the mammary glands and induces lactation but it is also found in the blood and tear glands. Boys and girls have the same level of this hormone until they are twelve years old. The girl's amount then gradually rises and by the time they are eighteen they have sixty percent more than boys do.

The tear glands in men and women are also anatomically different, as are their tears. According to Frey's research, when men cry 73 percent of the time, tears do not fall down their cheeks. Men may get misty-eyed, but teardrops don't give way. When women cry almost every crying episode involves runaway tears down their cheeks.

Many different things cause women to cry such as, frustration, stress, personal problems and hormonal changes caused by pregnancy, menstruation or menopause. All these things can lead to tears that are sometimes unavoidable.

85 percent of women and 73 percent of men said that they felt better after crying, which shows that tears may help remove chemicals that build up after stress according to Frey. Also scientists and sociologists both say that women are more inclined than men to feel the urge to cry when they are frustrated.

This may lead to problems for women in certain situations at work. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University found that men's tears are viewed more positively than women's. This is because men are found crying less frequently.

Crying could be a bad career-marring mistake. Both men and women often view crying as a sign of weakness or irrationality.

"Women in business don't cry, my dear," said Martha Stewart on her Apprentice television show to a female contestant who started to cry.

The web page, Advice on The Society for Women Engineers (SWE.org) gives suggestions on how to hold back your tears for those of us who are tear prone.