The battle of the sexes is no laughing matter — especially when it comes to the age-old argument of who is funnier.
But it seems science has finally settled the long-standing score.
Men are, on average, funnier than women, claim psychologists who reviewed multiple past studies investigating how amusing different people are.
The investigations judged participants’ senses of humour — for example, by asking them to write an amusing caption to go with a cartoon.
The researchers caution that the findings do not suggest all men are funnier than all women — with many women comedians being funnier than ’99. per cent’ of men.
However, the findings have left some women comedians feeling put out of humour.
Danish comedian Sofie Hagen, for example, tweeted that the study was ‘f**king ignorant’, while Scotland’s Eleanor Morton called it ‘another boring “study” ‘.
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Men are, on average, funnier than women, claim psychologists who reviewed multiple past studies investigating how funny different people are. Pictured, English comedian Tom Allen
The findings have left some women comedians feeling put out of humour. Danish comedian Sofie Hagen (pictured), for example, tweeted that the study was ‘f**king ignorant’
Psychologist Gil Greengross of Wales’ Aberystwyth University and colleagues from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro reviewed 28 past studies that investigated how funny participants — 5,057 in total — were.
The team also wanted to determine whether the stereotype that men are innately funnier than women had any grounding in reality.
‘This stereotype is shared by both men and women — but of course, just because it exists does not mean it is true,’ Dr Greengross wrote in Psychology Today.
In many of such studies into humour, participants are asked to write a witty caption for a cartoon — which were then anonymised and rated by independent judges.
According to Dr Greengross, the findings revealed that, ‘to the best of our knowledge, on average, men appear to have higher humour production ability than women.’
In fact, having ruled out the existence of confounding factors like participant age or nationality, the team found that 63 per cent of men are funnier than the average woman.
‘The fact that men, on average, appear to be funnier than women, does not imply that every single man is funnier than every single woman,’ he cautioned.
‘There are many great female comedians such as Sarah Silverman, Tina Fey, Ali Wong and historically, Lucille Ball, Joan Rivers, and many, many more.’
‘All these great comedians are funnier than 99.9 per cent of all men.’
The investigations judged participants’ senses of humour — for example, by asking them to write a caption to go with a cartoon. Pictured, British comedian Romesh Ranganathan
The team have some theories as to why humour might come with a gender gap.
‘It is possible that the view that women are less funny is so pervasive that societal forces discourage girls and women from developing and expressing their humour, making a woman less likely to be perceived as funny,’ wrote Dr Greengross.
‘There is, however, minimal evidence to support the view that our society suppresses women from producing and exhibiting humour.’
The researchers caution that the findings do not suggest all men are funnier than all women — with many women comedians being funnier than ’99. per cent’ of men. Pictured, American stand-up comedian and actress Ali Wong
‘On the other hand, the evidence does suggest that humour plays a major role in mating, with a strong evolutionary basis,’ Dr Greengross added.
Women — who bear heavier costs of reproduction — are typically more discriminating when it comes to picking a mate, he explained.
Humour is a good proxy for intelligence — which remains a desirable quality in a partner and would have been even more crucial during the hunter–gatherer part of human evolution.
Psychologist Gil Greengross of Wales’ Aberystwyth University and colleagues from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro reviewed 28 past studies that investigated how funny participants — around 5,000 in total — were. Pictured, US comedian Tig Notaro
‘Men, on the other hand, prefer women who laugh at their humour,’ Dr Greengross wrote.
‘That means that over our evolutionary history, men likely had to compete harder with other men to impress women with their sense of humour.’
‘Plenty of evidence supports this view, showing how important it is for women to find a man with a great sense of humour, while men generally do not place a high value on women’s humour production ability.’
Comedian Marina Bye, pictured here with sibling Maddy, told Radio 1 Newsbeat that she felt the study was ‘unnecessary’, adding that ‘they could’ve done something progressive’
The studies the team reviewed only focused on regular people — not professional comedians.
However, comedian Marina Bye told Radio 1 Newsbeat that she felt the study was ‘unnecessary’, adding that ‘[the researchers] could’ve done something progressive.’
‘With comedy that’s the last thing you want,’ she said, expressing concern that the findings could discourage women from entering the comedy arena.
‘You want the worst and the best comedians to try because you never know. This study will cripple bravery.’
Stand-up comedian Eleanor Morton, pictured here with MP Ed Milliband, also dismissed the research. ‘It’s just another boring “study” that claims women don’t NEED to be funny to find a mate so we’re not. Nothing new,’ she tweeted
Stand-up comedian Eleanor Morton, pictured here with MP Ed Milliband, also dismissed the research. ‘It’s just another boring “study” that claims women don’t NEED to be funny to find a mate so we’re not. Nothing new,’ she tweeted
‘There’s a difference between being good at writing jokes (a skill anyone can LEARN) and being funny (some people are, some people aren’t),’ added Danish comedian Sofie Hagen. ‘There are amazing joke-writers that aren’t that funny and funny people who couldn’t write a joke.’
Stand-up comedian Eleanor Morton also dismissed the research.
‘It’s just another boring “study” that claims women don’t NEED to be funny to find a mate so we’re not. Nothing new,’ she tweeted.
‘I actually think it’s more likely and more interesting that many men actively seek out partners they don’t think are funny because mummy told them they were the funniest little boy in the world and their ego couldn’t stand being proved wrong.’
‘There’s a difference between being good at writing jokes (a skill anyone can LEARN) and being funny (some people are, some people aren’t),’ added Danish comedian Sofie Hagen.
‘There are amazing joke-writers that aren’t that funny and funny people who couldn’t write a joke.’
The full findings of the study were published in the Journal of Research in Personality.
