Study proves gender stereotype that men are funnier than women

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Why do we think that men are funnier than women? Because they are! And men are particularly responsive to other men’s humor. Women, however, find men funnier because they mistakenly attribute funny things to men. Laura Mickes and her team, from the University of California, and Robert Mankoff from The New Yorker, explore the reasons behind the stereotype that men are funnier than women and find scientific proof to support it. Their work appears online in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, published by Springer.

Both men and women seem to believe that men are funnier than women. Why? One theory is that men use humor to impress potential partners. Women often say they prefer a man who makes them laugh and men prefer women who laugh at their jokes. Mickes and team wanted to find out if there was some substance behind the stereotype i.e. are men actually funnier than women or are they simply perceived as such? [continue reading…]