Definition
Humor as sexually selected trait
Introduction
Sense of humor is a sexually attractive trait that is ranked as one of the most desired attributes in a prospective mate. However, men and women are interested in somewhat different qualities of humor when choosing a mate. Women place greater importance on choosing a mate that makes them laugh, while men are more interested in a woman who will laugh at their humor. Sexual selection theory can explain these disparate preferences, and there is abundant evidence to support the view that men and women evolved different psychological adaptations to appreciate and create humor.
Humor as a Sexually Selected Trait
Researchers generally agree that sense of humor is an adaptive trait, though there is no consensus on the nature of the adaptation or the mechanism that explains the evolution of humor (Greengross 2014). One evolutionary explanation that has generated...
References
Bressler, E., Martin, R. A., & Balshine, S. (2006). Production and appreciation of humor as sexually selected traits. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27(2), 121–130.
Grammer, K. (1990). Strangers meet: Laughter and nonverbal signs of interest in opposite-sex encounters. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 14(4), 209–236.
Greengross, G. (2014). Male production of humor produced by sexually selected psychological adaptations. In V. A. Weekes-Shackelford & T. K. Shackelford (Eds.), Evolutionary perspectives on human sexual psychology and behavior (pp. 173–196). New York: Springer Science + Business Media.
Greengross, G., & Miller, G. F. (2011). Humor ability reveals intelligence, predicts mating success, and is higher in males. Intelligence, 39(4), 188–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2011.03.006.
Lippa, R. A. (2007). The preferred traits of mates in a cross-national study of heterosexual and homosexual men and women: An examination of biological and cultural influences. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36(2), 193–208.
Lundy, D. E., Tan, J., & Cunningham, M. R. (1998). Heterosexual romantic preferences: The importance of humor and physical attractiveness for different types of relationships. Personal Relationships, 5(3), 311–325.
Mickes, L., Walker, D., Parris, J., Mankoff, R., & Christenfeld, N. (2012). Who’s funny: Gender stereotypes, humor production, and memory bias. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 19(1), 108–112.
Miller, G. (2000). The mating mind: How sexual selection shaped the evolution of human nature. New York: Anchor books.
Provine, R. (1993). Laughter punctuates speech: Linguistic, social and gender contexts of laughter. Ethology, 95(4), 291–298.
Weisfeld, G. E., Nowak, N. T., Lucas, T., Weisfeld, C. C., Imamoğlu, E. O., Butovskaya, M., … Parkhill, M. R. (2011). Do women seek humorousness in men because it signals intelligence? A cross-cultural test. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 24(4), 435–462.
Wilbur, C. J., & Campbell, L. (2011). Humor in romantic contexts: Do men participate and women evaluate? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(7), 918–929.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Greengross, G. (2018). Humor as a Signal of Sexual Interest. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3248-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3248-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences