Humor Differences in Men and Women


Today, I found this Science news article while searching the net. Even though it's well-established that there are many differences, overall, between men and women, this article specifically talks about the differences in their reactions to humor. It always seems to be that men find things funny that may not be so funny to women (and vice versa). For example, how many men do you know that still find the "pull my finger" joke funny? Probably alot more men than women find flatulence a humorous occurrence (unless we're talking about the strange happenings at Keith & Michelle's on Saturday night!)...but that's a story for another time.

Basically, what this article boils down to is that researchers feel that women have different expectations when it comes to humor ( like when they are viewing a cartoon or hearing a joke). It is thought that women are more analytical about humor and may not necessarily expect a joke, for example, to be funny from the start. Therefore, when something turns out to be very humorous, women's brains more actively respond with a sense of reward and a feeling of unexpectedness. Men, on the other hand, go into the humorous event with the expectation it will be funny.

My thought is that maybe women have been conditioned, in a sense, to be this way. How many times have we heard that the bumbling husband isn't expected to do something correctly in the house, so when he does, the woman is pleasantly surprised? Or...the husband plays dumb and pretends not to know where something is, just so he gets out of doing something he doesn't want to do (*cough*-Dad-*cough*). When he does what his wife has asked...well, she's happy and pleased. Don't get me wrong...these are definitely the stereotypical views of the roles of men and women (which I don't necessarily subscribe to), but these views are kind of fitting to the article at hand.

Personally, I like the fact that men and women are different...I think it makes life unpredictable and more exciting. If men and women always found the same things funny or interesting or annoying or acceptable or enjoyable, etc., then how might we ever be exposed to anything new? Getting to know your partner's likes and dislikes, and being introduced to new things is half the fun.

What all the arrows seem to point to is that women, in general, respond positively to spontaneity (whether it be in regards to humor or whatever else).

So, what do you think??