Study Claims Laughter Paves The Way For Romance

It's rather ironic that after yesterday's post, I came across a news article relating to the very question I proposed...is a person without a sense of humor doomed to living their entire life single and dying alone? So I began to wonder about this. As my Mom would say "don't wonder too long or you might get lost". As you can see, it's a safe assumption to make that I didn't get my sense of humor from my Mom's side of the family. (To be fair, she has her moments, although few and far between.) Studies suggest humor signals big brain and good partner-potential. So am I to assume that a person who lacks a funny bone also lacks brains and is a bad lover? This study seems a little harsh, but at the same time it seems a little funny. Hmm, maybe because I have a sense of humor or perhaps I'm just giggling at an inappropriate time and at the misfortune of others. Either way, stupid studies like this always entertain me.

If love is blind, then maybe humor is the attention-grabber. That's the conclusion of 2 recent studies that confirm a long-standing stereotype of flirting claiming that women like joky men, while men like women who laugh at their jokes. (Personally, I like women who don't just laugh at me or with me, but also make me laugh as well.) The idea that funny people are attractive may seem obvious, but there have been very few scientific studies to examine whether or not this is true. Two college professors conducted a study by asking more than 200 male and female college students to examine photos of members of the opposite sex. Some had funny quotes pinned beneath them, such as: "My high school was so rough we had our own coroner." Others had bland ones: "I'd rather walk to school than take the bus."

The researchers found that the women ranked the humorous men as better potential partners along with being more friendly, fun and popular. However, men's views of women appeared to be uninfluenced by her wit. So should we assume that a humorous brunette would not win a man's heart in comparison to a dumb blonde? Of course a dingy girl does give you something to laugh at - her stupidity. (Let me just state for the record, not all brunettes are funny and not all blondes are dumb.) Although I tend to feel that after a guy is out of his college years, he no longer just goes for a pretty face. At least in my opinion, after your early 20s, you want a girl that has a little more substance to her besides looks. She needs to have something upstairs in her head to hold my interest and allow the attraction to go beyond skin deep. It's suspected that men and women do both value a sense of humor in a mate, but that they might be looking for slightly different things. Women value an ability to be funny and men value an ability to see the joke. See, even more reason why a dingy girl will not hold a man's interest after so long. Because she's an airhead, she's funny to be around, but because she's an airhead, she doesn't get most of the jokes - even when they are at her expense.

Further research concludes that women generally preferred men who were funny, while men favored a woman who thought he was funny. Women prefer funny men because their wit reveals an active and healthy brain...and a fine set of underlying genes. It's said to be a very powerful and reliable way to show creativity and intelligence. If this theory holds true, a woman choosing a funny man as a partner is more likely to have genetically healthy children who will survive and reproduce themselves. This so-called sexual selection could, in some circumstances, favor women who like humorous men and men who like women with an appreciation for humor. What does this means for those seeking love? Well because we are asking scientists rather than relationship therapists, the scientists were reluctant to say. Although they gave this advice for the ladies: "If you're not interested in a guy then don't laugh at his jokes."