It’s not a secret that women want a guy that can make them laugh.
I’ve done hours of research on that topic, and although most of that “research” was on dating websites and the personals section of craigslist, I still consider it to be true. But then I thought to myself, “why is that?” I mean, as a funny guy, I am not arguing with it – I could list off a bunch of superficial survey results from sources like Men’s Health, or Cosmopolitan, but that does no one any real good. I turned to science.
To understand why women want a funny man, you first have to understand laughter itself.
Laughter predated language, possibly by millions of years. If this sounds crazy, think about the fact that infants laugh, basically from birth. It’s not something that is taught, it is instinctual. The crazy thing to me, is that scientist really have no idea why we laugh.
One theory that is that laughter developed from the “whoops” that apes make when they play fight. It’s a vocalization that let’s their ape buddies know “hey, Greg we are just playing around” (the ape in this example’s name is Greg). It was a social thing. This makes total sense to me, because according to another study that I read, somewhere around 80% of laughter isn’t at something funny. It’s at normal basic statements in which we are seeking approval. Laughter in the form of chuckles of brief guffaws is almost like a punctuation in our speech. Think about it. Listen to people throughout your day, and see how often some one makes a casual statement followed by a short, huffy, “Ha” type laugh. That’s Evolution…
So, if laughter is just an instinctual hold-over from our hairy pasts, then why would someone want to laugh more? Basically, because it is good for you. There are countless research studies into what laughter does to the body, and all of them are good. Even in studies where people had severe breathing problems, most of the patients responded well to laughter treatments. There is even laugh yoga. The scientific reasons behind why laughter is good for your body boil down mostly to a couple of things: Cortisol and Oxygen. Laughter naturally lowers the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, which not only relaxes your body, but it boosts your immune system. Cortisol has a host of negative effects on the body, so the less of it you have, the healthier you are. Same goes for oxygen. Laughter promotes deep breathing, and stimulates organs. You know how when you laugh really hard you start coughing? it’s not because you may or may not be a smoker, it is because you are invigorating stagnant lung tissue, not unlike stretching a muscle.
Therefore, ladies – you want a funny man because evolution has taught you that they are better for you. (thank your cavelady ancestors)
It makes sense. Funny males bond better socially. This would have been crucial to our ancient ancestors because social bonding provided safety and security. The better standing your mate had in the pack, the better things were for you. WAIT – before you start typing your “you are a misogynistic pig” comments, remember I am talking about ANCIENT ANCESTORS. I’m all for lady power, and feminism, and all that good stuff. I’m not talking about modern social norms, I’m talking about the hard-wired genetic responses to humor in a mate in general. Remember, before we developed socially, we were essentially just smarter monkeys. We have very basic designs: Eat, Sleep, Procreate. The continuation of the species is built into every single living thing on this planet at a cellular level, even viruses.
That being said, it makes sense that you’d obviously want the best mate, and women are the choosier of the sexes (the story of my love life).
The best mates were the ones that could be socially accepted by other member of the group so that you didn’t have to live on the outskirts of town, and fend for yourself and your young. You also wanted a mate that made you do that weird whooping thing we now call laughter, because whether you knew it or not – it was making your body healthier.
There you have it, ladies: Science knows why you want a funny man in your life.
And I now feel worse for being single, HA!
Related: 5 Reasons Why Women Love “Bad Guys”