Partnership: laugh first, then fall in love

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Making women laugh is worthwhile for men: the more often she laughs when she first meets them, the more interested she is in him. However, the likelihood of a romantic continuation of the encounter is even greater if both laugh together.

But why is that the case? One hypothesis investigated by Prof. Jerry Hall from the University of Kansas was that women may think humorous men are more intelligent - but this has not been confirmed: In a study, respondents used Facebook profiles to evaluate unknown creators. Even if they found their postings particularly amusing, they did not rate those assessed as more intelligent than less funny.

Funny guys aren't more intelligent ...

Another study by the researchers also found no association between a person's ability to be amusing and actually measured intelligence. However, funny people were particularly extroverted. Such people are open to strangers and unfamiliar situations and easily make friends.

... but they have different qualities

Humor is so attractive, says Hall, because it promises a good relationship. "When you meet someone who you can laugh with, that means you could possibly have a partnership with them in which you have a lot of fun and good humor." Humor also shows that someone has a social and pleasant personality. “Some of the social skills are based on being able to joke around with others,” says the researcher.

For further investigation, the scientist and his team brought together 51 couples who had never met before. All were straight and single. The participants talked to each other for ten minutes and then filled out a questionnaire.

Traditional role play

The results did not provide any indications that either sex was more eager to be amusing. But the more the men tried to make the woman laugh, and the more often they succeeded, the greater the interest. How often the women made the men laugh did not matter. “The fact that the man is the joker and the woman laughs seems to be a kind of traditional advertising behavior,” Hill believes. Such role behavior is said to be very durable.

Exploring your own opportunities

Men also use their humor to sound out how interested a woman is in them: “Men try to find out in this way whether they have good cards with a woman. Some even use this strategy very deliberately. "

But last but not least, humor has its very own value. Hall explains: "Laughing together can be a way to build a more stable partnership." (Cf)

Jeffrey A. Hall, "Sexual Selection and Humor in Courtship: A Case for Warmth and Extroversion," Evolutionary Psychology, Evol Psychol, September 2015; vol. 13, 3: 1474704915598918, first published on August 18, 2015

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