Search Here

It's long been known that having a good sense of humor makes men more attractive, but a new study finds that the opposite may also be true: being attractive makes men seem funnier. 

The study, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, found that attractive people were perceived as funnier when the participants listening to them could see what they looked like. 

Psychologists at the University of Stirling videotaped a group of undergraduate psychology students who were asked which two items they would take to a desert island and why.  The three choices were chocolate, hairspray or a plastic bag. Researchers said that even though the students weren't told that the study was about humor, the vast majority of the students gave the appearance of trying to be humorous with their answers.

Researchers then asked other students to rate the desert-island comments for wit, and how attractive each of the students in the video might be for a short-term or long-term relationship.

The study found that good-looking people, and especially attractive men, were rated as funnier in video clips than their less attractive counterparts.  Researchers found that funnier men were also considered most attractive for a short-term relationship.

Researchers explain that this could be because being funny may give off the impression of not being serious or willing to commit to a long-term relationship.

Researchers also found that being recorded on video also made a real difference.  Men who were videotaped were perceived to be funnier than those who provided a photo of themselves and only had their voices recorded.

Researchers say that the findings suggest that men in particular use humor as a way to show off their intelligence and good genes to women. Another reason could be that people use wit to indicate that they are sexually attracted to people.