Randolph R. Cornelius

Randolph (Randy) Cornelius received a BA from the University of Florida (1975) and MS (1979) and PhD (1981) degrees from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In addition to the Department of Psychology, he teaches in the American Culture and Environmental Studies Programs.

His research interests revolve around the study of human emotions and emotional expression. For several years he has sought to understand the social functions of weeping and has been developing an evolutionary theory of weeping that focuses on tears as a type of communicative display. He also studies close relationships, conceptions of emotions in American popular culture, and the religious beliefs of scientists. He is the author of The Science of Emotion. Research and Tradition in the Psychology of Emotion (Prentice-Hall, 1996) and the co-editor, with Ad Vingerhoets, of Adult Crying: A Biopsychosocial Approach (Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis, 2001).