An Evolutionary Perspective on Humor: Sexual Selection or Interest Indication?

• Main Authors: LI, Norman P., GRISKEVICIUS, Vladas, DURANTE, Kristina M., JONASON, Peter K., PASISZ, Derek J., AUMER, Katherine
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2009
• Subjects: humor; physical attractiveness; social relationships; sexual selection; Gender and Sexuality; Personality and Social Contexts; Social Psychology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/725; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/1724/viewcontent/EvolutionalPerspectiveHumor_2009.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Are people who are funny more attractive? Or does being attractive lead people to be seen as funnier? The answer may depend on the underlying evolutionary function of humor. While humor has been proposed to signal “good genes”, the authors propose that humor also functions to indicate interest in so...