Why Humor Turns Women On
We all know that women like funny guys but empirical evidence for this phenomenon has been sorely lacking. Fortunately, a recent study tests whether humor helps men pick up women.
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A French scientist has set out to test whether ‘producing humor might function as a fitness indicator associated with greater desirability during dating selection’: “For the experiment, the researcher recruited several young ‘male confederates’ to help out. The guys sat in a bar near a woman, and one of them was instructed to tell three jokes to his companions. The result of these shenanigans? ‘The previous expression of humor was associated with greater compliance with the male confederate’s request and with a higher positive evaluation.’ In other words, the guy who told jokes was rated as funnier and more attractive by the women, thus snagging him more phone numbers.”
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