Ad Vingerhoets
Adrianus "Ad" Johannes Josephus Maria Vingerhoets is a Dutch Experimental psychologist on emotions and well-being and an academic. He is an emeritus professor of emotions and well-being at Tilburg University, where he specialized in the study of stress, emotion, and quality of life.
Vingerhoets is known for his work on the psychology and biology of crying and emotional tears. He is also known for coining the term "leisure sickness" to describe the phenomenon of individuals becoming ill during weekends or vacations, and for his research into the psychological function of nostalgia and homesickness.
Early life and education
Vingerhoets was born in 1953 in Hilvarenbeek, a town in the south of the Netherlands. He attended Tilburg University, where he completed his master's degree in psychology. He went on to earn his PhD from the same institution in 1985. His doctoral thesis was titled Psychosocial Stress: A biopsychosocial approach.Career
Following his PhD, Vingerhoets held academic positions at Radboud University Nijmegen and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He also worked with the Helen Dowling Institute for Biopsychosocial Medicine and the Health Council of the Netherlands. In 1990, he was awarded the Bronze Medal of the Finnish Society of Psychiatry for his research on stress.He eventually returned to Tilburg University as a professor in the Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology. He remained at the university until his retirement in November 2019, delivering his farewell speech titled "The binding power of the tear". Since his retirement, he has remained active as a researcher, author, and public speaker, including delivering a TEDx talk on the evolutionary function of crying.
Vingerhoets started the international conference series titled The expression of emotions in health and disease, which takes place at Tilburg University every four years.
He started and is the chairman of the Tilburg Science Café, where prominent Dutch and Flemish researchers are invited to share their work with a general audience, in a café setting with music.
He is currently working on a new book on adult crying, with Dr. Naomi Weinshenker as a co-author. The book will be published by Johns Hopkins University Press by the end of 2026.
Research
Vingerhoets has authored or co-authored over 400 articles in scientific journals and has authored and edited 19 books. His work is characterized by a multidisciplinary approach, combining psychology, biology, and sociology.He is known for his scholarly output and citation metrics. His work has an h-index of 71 as of 17 December 2025 and has accrued over 17,000 total citations across more than 400 publications, according as to academic profile aggregators in the field of psychology.
Emotional tears
Vingerhoets is best known for his extensive research into adult human crying. His 2013 monograph, Why Only Humans Weep, challenges standard evolutionary explanations for crying. Vingerhoets argues that emotional tears are a uniquely human trait that evolved to promote social bonding, empathy, and prosocial behavior in others.His research has investigated various aspects of crying, including:Gender differences: Investigating why women statistically cry more frequently than men, examining both biological factors and cultural conditioning.The "relief" hypothesis: His studies have shown that crying does not always lead to immediate mood improvement, and that the social reaction to the tears is a key predictor of whether the crier feels better afterwards.Tears of joy: Researching the psychological underpinnings of why humans cry during positive events.
Leisure sickness
In 2001, Vingerhoets and his research team coined the term leisure sickness to describe a condition where individuals develop symptoms of illness—such as headaches, fatigue, and flu-like symptoms—specifically during weekends and vacations when they attempt to relax. The condition is most frequently observed in individuals with high-stress occupations or those possessing perfectionist personality traits.Vingerhoets proposed a dual-hypothesis model to explain the variety of symptoms associated with the phenomenon:
- The "unwinding" hypothesis: This physiological model addresses the onset of infectious or acute symptoms, such as fever and flu-like conditions. Vingerhoets hypothesized that the body's stress systems remain in a state of "overdrive" even after the external stressor is removed. This delayed physiological transition can result in a temporary immune system vulnerability or a "let-down" effect.
- The competition of cues hypothesis: This psychological model explains subjective complaints like fatigue and vague physical pains. Vingerhoets posits that during high-pressure work periods, intense mental focus and external distractions prevent the brain from processing internal bodily signals. When the individual enters a low-stimulation environment, the lack of external distraction allows these pre-existing physical signals to be perceived by the conscious mind.
Nostalgia and well-being
Vingerhoets has published work on nostalgia, arguing that it serves as an "existential resource." His research suggests that nostalgia is not merely a longing for the past, but a functional emotion that increases optimism and helps individuals find meaning in the present. This work often overlaps with his studies on homesickness. Notable publications in this area include studies on how nostalgia can foster self-continuity and regulate avoidance motivation and can also make people feel warmer and more connected with others.Health Psychology
In the field of health psychology, Vingerhoets has conducted research on the relationship between psychosocial factors and disease. This includes work on the quality of life among long-term breast cancer survivors and the development of assessment tools for measuring quality of life in clinical settings.Selected publications
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