This week singer Adele said that the way to her heart was to make her laugh. Her love CV, according to the tabloids, shows that she's not interested in looks. Instead she needs a man to be both funny and passionate. Adele joins a long list of celebrities, such as Jennifer Anniston (think Vince Vaughan) and Sienna Miller (think Rhys Ifans), who have all succumbed to the allure of a funny guy.
When it comes to what's deemed attractive, it will come as no surprise to you that there's a difference between the sexes. Men, on the whole, focus more on looks in the first instance and women are far more about personality and confidence. Making someone laugh is a sign of being confident. In fact, recent studies also show that women think funny men are smarter and, interestingly, more likely to be honest. Most would agree that of course these two qualities make a man better relationship material.
There could be other reasons that make a funny man a good catch. In purely evolutionary terms, women search for a man who'll be a good protector and a good provider. A funny man is seen as confident, so it's a sign he'll be a good protector; and being seen as smart, is a sign he could be a good provider. For any man that doesn't have the visual appeal of Brad Pitt, I hope this gives them some hope!
My personal take on funny men is that, as women, we're not always very casual. A funny man helps us loosen up and laugh. Laughing triggers a response in your brain that flushes you with endorphins, your natural feel good chemicals, as well as reducing the negative stress hormones in your body. When we laugh, both our body and mind relaxes; we feel good about ourselves. So it makes perfect sense we'll want to be around someone who makes us feel this way. Also, ask an attractive woman and she'll tell you that funny men are often not afraid to playfully make fun of her. Rather than showering her with compliments - they challenge her - which helps her to laugh at herself.
But being funny seems to be a one way street, at least on a first date. When a man says he likes a woman with a good sense of humour, does he really mean a woman that will laugh at his jokes? Studies have shown that if a woman tries to make a man laugh when she first meets him, his eyes look away from her. So in that moment, he actually becomes less interested in her as a potential mate! This makes sense if we go back a step and remember that being funny is seen as being socially dominant. Clearly a lot of men are hard wired in their desire to hold on to that card. In my experience, all this theory goes out of the window once you are in a relationship together, when laughter should be on tap for both of you. Laughing keeps your relationship healthy, fun and alive. It acts as a buffer to the stresses life throws at us all. Put simply, if you laugh together, you'll stay together!