Crying as the Primordial Unknown-State Emotion: An Emotional Saturation Threshold Model with Cross-Sectional Survey Validation
Abstract
Abstract Crying is arguably the first emotional expression exhibited by human neonates, yet its theoretical status within affective science remains underspecified. We propose the Emotional Saturation Threshold (EST) model, a mathematical framework that formalizes crying as the universal overflow response---an ''unknown state'' ($\Omega$) that is activated whenever the intensity of any core emotion exceeds the capacity of its associated behavioral expressions. For each emotion $e_k$ in the set of basic emotions $\mathcal{E} = \{e_1, \dots, e_n\}$, we define an intensity function $I_k(t) \in [0, \infty)$ and a finite set of behavioral expressions $\mathcal{B}_k = \{b_{k,1}, \dots, b_{k,m_k}\}$, each bounded by a maximum expression capacity $C(b_{k,j})$. The saturation threshold is defined as $\tau_k = \max_j C(b_{k,j})$. When $I_k(t) > \tau_k$, the system enters the $\Omega$-state, manifesting as lacrimation (crying). We model the transition probability as $P(\Omega \mid I_k) = 1 - \exp\!\bigl(-\alpha_k \cdot [I_k - \tau_k]^+\bigr)$, where $\alpha_k > 0$ is an emotion-specific sensitivity parameter. This framework unifies the observation that crying occurs across the entire valence spectrum---from extreme joy to profound grief---and explains why neonates, who possess no learned behavioral expressions (i.e., $\tau_k \approx 0$ for all $k$), default to crying as their first and only emotional response. We validate the model via a cross-sectional survey ($N = 7{,}812$) across 14…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cross-sectional, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause. Reported size: 7 participants or records.
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