Ask any girl what her perfect guy would be like, and it is almost guaranteed that she will say someone with a good sense of humor, along with tall, dark and handsome. Regardless of her “type” the typical girl enjoys being in the company of a man who can make her genuinely laugh.
Still don’t believe me? Okay, how about this? According to Men’s Health “survey of more than 1,000 American women ages 21 to 54, 77 percent of women ranked a sense of humor as their number one must-have in a man, beating out intelligence, passion, confidence, and generosity.”
So what actually causes this desire to constantly be entertained? I did some research and can fill you in with this blog.
Psychologist, Kristofor McCarty, who decided to study why women enjoy funny men said “A quick browse of lonely hearts ads will confirm that women look for a good sense of humor in a potential partner – our research may explain why this is the case”. His conclusions came from a research in which he asked women to rate “lonely hearts” based on how intelligent they believed these men were. The men with comical remarks and jokes were rated as more intelligent by the women
The catch is however, women aren’t easy…well some women aren’t. The study showed that women appreciated men that made intelligent jokes and utilized regular conversation to make comical situations. For example, McCarty tested his jokes that were read by the “lonely heart” candidates on women from the ages of 18 to 30. Here is an example of one that women found humorous: “ “I was standing in a mental illness ward the other day when I heard a doctor speaking to a new nurse on the ward. He was really giving her a telling-off, and his parting words were, ‘And remember, when it’s busy, don’t go around saying it’s a madhouse,’ ” and this is an example of the opposite “ “I was out skiing last year when I ended up slipping all the way down the mountain.”
A study by Stanford University School of Medicine in America observed the brains of young boys and girls and through MRI scanning and questioning found that the girls responded more strongly to funny videos when compared to the boys reactions. Perhaps this is why it is more important for females to have funny men than it is for men to have funny women.
So what are the psychological reasons why women actually find comfort in funny men? There are a number of possibilities. Humor usually allows people to release stress. So a common reason for women to appreciate humorous men is that they enjoy being free of the daily stresses in life and just need someone to be the entertainment. Also, when a man can take a situation and instantly think of something clever and witty to say, it displays speed and creativity. Both of these are features of intelligence in a man which to women implies strength and security.
Out of my own curiosity, I decided to create my own survey to get some insight and see how some females that I know feel about humor in a man. My results found that out of the 25 females that responded, 88% required that a good sense of humor be a top 5 characteristic of the man they want to date.
I absolutely agree with this post. I don’t think that I could date or marry a man that couldn’t make me laugh. I see humor as a huge indicator of intelligence. If a man can make a witty or clever remark, I see that they are probably smart in other areas too. Wanting a man who is intelligent seems to make sense, as we would want to pass along those genes in our kids, so they would be better off. http://www.ehbonline.org/article/S1090-5138(08)00079-2/abstract
Well you can certainly take down my vote for sense of humor being important for a relationship. I think cleverness and wittiness is an indicator of a quick and intelligent mind. It also doesn’t hurt for him to choose tasteful and appropriate comebacks. This study suggests that humor is indeed a reflection on intelligence.
http://www.epjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/ep06652666.pdf
This was such a well written post! I especially liked how you did your own survey at the end and found results that supported the hypothesis you were talking about. I agree with the psychological reasons you identified why women find humor attractive in men – because laughing destresses them and women subconciously associate humor with intelligence. I wonder if the same thing applies to friendship as well – if women are more likely to be better friends and make better connections with people who make them laugh. I couldn’t find any studies that researched this, but I found an article talking about how laughter is good for your health.
http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/give-your-body-boost-with-laughter
This could be another reason why women are attacted to men who make them laugh – it’s beneficial for their health!