London – If you want to impress a man, don’t try to be funny – it seems that he won’t be hugely attracted to a witty woman.
Asked to choose between a woman who makes them laugh or one that laughs at their jokes, men prefer the latter, research suggests.
As luck would have it, it appears that women aren’t too worried about their own jokes being appreciated. And they like men who make them smile.
Researcher Liana Hone of the University of Miami questioned more than 80 men and women about how much importance they placed on having a partner who can make them laugh. The results are published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology.
Hone believes that a woman sees the ability to make people laugh as a sign of intelligence – and of the sort of high quality genes that she would want in her children. Given that women tend to be more choosy, men are under pressure to make them laugh.
Hone said: ‘Given that humour requires high-level linguistic capacity, women are thought to use humour production as a sign that a man is a mentally capable suitor.’
However, she said that funny women shouldn’t despair, and there is also hope for bachelors who never remember punchlines. This is because her results were based on averages – and not everyone will have the same taste.
Daily Mail