Humor and sexual selection

Abstract

Recently Geoffrey Miller has suggested that humor evolved through sexual selection as a signal of "creativity," which in turn implies youthfulness, intelligence, and adaptive unpredictability. Drawing upon available empirical studies, I argue that the evidence for a link between humor and creativity is weak and ambiguous. I also find only tenuous support for Miller's assumption that the attractiveness of the "sense of humor" is to be found in the wittiness of its possessor, since those who use the phrase often seem to associate it with the affects of relatively mirthless "bonding" laughter. Humor, I conclude, may have evolved as an instrument for achieving broad social adhesiveness and for facilitating the individual's maneuverability within the group, but that it evolved through sexual selection has yet to be convincingly demonstrated.

Humor in romantic relationships: A meta‐analysis

“…There are several reasons why individuals who are able to produce and are appreciative of humor might be more satisfied in romantic relationships. These measures may tap into an underlying social facility (Storey, ), ability to connect or develop intimacy with others (Hampes, ), or cheerful disposition (Kohler & Ruch, ). As such, individuals who can create and appreciate humor may find relationships more pleasant and satisfying in general.…”

“…For humans, humor's primary value as a trait, skill, or resource is in the social realm (Caron, ; Craik & Ware, ), with the notable exception of coping or adaptive humor. In the social world, a sense of humor is valuable because it is a “potent instrument for at once forging indispensible social bonds and permitting the individual a great deal of (self‐serving) maneuverability within them” (Storey, , p. 323). Although an adaptive resource for the individual, humor's value in the context of romantic relationships is not so straightforward.…”

Laughing and liking: Exploring the interpersonal effects of humor use in initial social interactions

“…Even popular books targeted at “complete idiots” acknowledge the importance of humor in dating: “Ask anyone what he or she really appreciates in another person, and invariably you'll hear ‘a sense of humor’” (Rabens, , p. 89). Theorists have in turn proposed an array of explanations for why people may desire a sense of humor in a partner, including that humor and laughter are ways to socially connect (Fraley & Aron, ; Storey, ; Weisfeld, ), sexually attract (Bressler & Balshine, ; Bressler, Martin, & Balshine, ; Miller, ; Wilbur & Campbell, ), and indicate liking (Li et al, ). Collectively, these accounts offer similar yet somewhat competing views on the nature of humor in social interactions.…”

“…Scholars who reject the domain‐specific sexual selection account of humor have approached humor as a way to facilitate and maintain all forms of social connections—“humor seems to have evolved as a potent instrument for at once forging indispensable social bonds” (Storey, , p. 323). Humor appears to emerge in social interaction early in childhood development: smiling and laughing are common among preschool children, with 95% of these instances occurring around others (Bainum et al, ).…”

The Tears of a Clown: Understanding Comedy Writers

“…Humor has been the subject of a great deal of speculation and, more recently, a rather impressive array of empirical research (Martin, 2007) on a variety of humor-related topics. For instance, research has examined the link between humor and psychological well-being (Kuiper & Martin, 1998;Martin & Lefcourt, 1983;Ruch, 1997), the link between humor and physical well-being (Cogan, Cogan, Waltz, & McCue, 1987;Lefcourt, Davidson-Katz, & Kueneman, 1990;Martin & Dobbin, 1988;McClelland & Cheriff, 1997), defining characteristics of funny jokes (Attardo, 1997;Koestler, 1964;Raskin, 1985;Wyer & Collins, 1992), social aspects of humor (Apter, 1982;Long & Graesser, 1988;Mulkay, 1988;Robinson & Smith-Lovin, 2001), the psychobiology of humor and laughter (Bachorowski, Smoski, & Owen, 2001;Coulson & Kutas, 2001;Goel & Dolan, 2001;Provine & Yong, 1991), the development of humor in children (Barnett, 1990;Johnson & Mervis, 1997;McGhee, 1980), the evolutionary emergence of the human capacity for humor (Kaufman, Kozbelt, Bromley, & Miller, 2007;Storey, 2002), and the cognitive processes involved in humor appreciation or comprehension (Eysenck, 1942;Suls, 1972;Vaid, Hull, Heredia, Gerkens, & Martinez, 2003).…”