Eric Bressler, a graduate student at McMaster University who is studying the role of humour in personal attraction, discovered in a survey of 150 students that to a woman, "sense of humour" means someone who makes her laugh; to a man, a sense of humour means someone who appreciates his jokes.
"There's a difference between producers (those who make you laugh) and receptors (those who laugh when someone cracks a joke)," said Bressler. "Women choose men who produce humour 62 per cent of the time; conversely, men choose women who appreciate their humour 65 per cent of the time."
Bressler also found a marked difference when he looked at different relationships: "When it comes to friendships, men like to be around women who produce humour; when it comes to sexual relationships, they only dig women who laugh at their jokes."
McMaster University, named Canada's Research University of the Year by Research InfoSource, has world-renowned faculty and state-of-the-art research facilities. McMaster's culture of innovation fosters a commitment to discovery and learning in teaching, research and scholarship. Based in Hamilton, the University has a student population of more than 20,000 and more than 112,000 alumni in 128 countries.
For more information, please contact:
Eric Bressler
Department of Psychology
McMaster University
905-525-9140 ext. 26042
bressle@mcmaster.ca