Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Women get more joy out of humor
The Seattle Times ^ | November 8, 2005 | Randolph E. Schmid

Posted on 11/08/2005 8:13:15 PM PST by neverdem

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The difference between the sexes has long been a rich source of humor. Now, it turns out, humor is one of the differences.

A new study concludes that women seem more likely than men to enjoy a good joke, mainly because they don't always expect it to be funny.

"The long trip to Mars or Venus is hardly necessary to see that men and women often perceive the world differently," a research team led by Dr. Allan Reiss of the Stanford University School of Medicine reports in today's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

But they were surprised when their studies of how male and female brains react to humor showed that women were more analytical in their response and felt more pleasure when they decided something really was funny.

"Women appeared to have less expectation of a reward, which in this case was the punch line of the cartoon," Reiss said. "So when they got to the joke's punch line, they were more pleased about it."

Women were subjecting humor to more analysis with the aim of determining if it was indeed funny, Reiss said in a telephone interview. Men are using the same network in the brain, but less so, he said; men are less discriminating.

"It doesn't take a lot of analytical machinery to think someone getting poked in the eye is funny," he commented when asked about humor like the Three Stooges.

Although there is a lot of overlap between how men and women process humor, the differences can help account for the fact that men gravitate more to one-liners and slapstick while women tend to use humor more in narrative form and stories, Reiss said.

The funnier the cartoon the more the reward center in the women's brains responded — unlike men, who seemed to expect the cartoons to be funny from the beginning, the researchers said.

The new insight could improve understanding of such conditions as depression.

Reiss' team studied the response of 10 women and 10 men to 70 black-and-white cartoons, asking them to rate the jokes for how funny they were. While the volunteers were looking at the cartoons, their brains were being studied with an MRI to determine what parts of the brain were responding.

In large part, men and women had similar responses to humor, using parts of the brain responsible for the structure and context of language and for understanding juxtaposition.

In women, however, some areas were more active than in men. These included the left prefrontal cortex, which the researchers said suggests a greater emphasis on language and executive processing, and the nucleus accumbens, or NAcc, which is part of the reward center.

Reiss was surprised at the NAcc finding. The researchers theorized that because women were being more analytical they weren't necessarily expecting the cartoons to be as funny as did the men. Then, when they saw the punch line, the reward center lit up, indicating something pleasant and unexpected.

Arnie Cann, a psychology professor at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, said: "Given the findings in the current study, that women appear to use more executive functions, it could be that they are more engaged in scrutinizing the humor to decide if it fits their views on what is acceptable humor. Once they decide the humor is OK, they could be experiencing a relieflike response."

That would fit in with the finding that women experience more reward from the joke, said Cann, who was not part of Reiss' research team.

Reiss' research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Science
KEYWORDS: humor; neurology; women
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-68 next last
To: EX52D

Hmmm..... on one hand that could be good, but then it could be bad - for the guy anyway.


41 posted on 11/09/2005 7:29:57 AM PST by day10 (Wherever you come near the human race there's layers and layers of nonsense.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: Maximus of Texas; day10
Do I detect self-esteem "issues" here? Thinking
42 posted on 11/09/2005 7:37:22 AM PST by EX52D
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: EX52D

Who, me? No, no, not at all!


43 posted on 11/09/2005 7:38:37 AM PST by Maximus of Texas (On my signal, pull my finger)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: EX52D

Uhhhh, no, not here. I am just concerned for all the other guys out there. Yeah, that's it.


44 posted on 11/09/2005 7:42:17 AM PST by day10 (Wherever you come near the human race there's layers and layers of nonsense.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: Maximus of Texas
Sweet! Firehair 2
45 posted on 11/09/2005 7:43:04 AM PST by EX52D
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: day10

Awww, aren't you sweet. Check your pings...


46 posted on 11/09/2005 7:45:42 AM PST by EX52D
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: MotleyGirl70

I agree with you.

But still don't get the stooges.


;-)


47 posted on 11/09/2005 7:47:52 AM PST by Dashing Dasher (I'm going to become rich as soon as I invent a device that allows you to smack people over the web!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Fierce Allegiance
If yhis is true, why does almost every female comedian seem like an angry jilted former lover turned pissed off lesbian?

I have no idea, but someone who delivers what's supposed to be funny is not the same as those who listen to it.

48 posted on 11/09/2005 10:05:49 AM PST by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: ValerieUSA

Heh... I had to analyze what you said a lot longer, because no one got poked in the eye, but...


49 posted on 11/09/2005 10:19:25 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Down with Dhimmicrats! I last updated my FR profile on Wednesday, November 2, 2005.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

heh heh ... you said poked

oh, that's right. women don't like beavis and butthead either


50 posted on 11/09/2005 10:32:25 AM PST by ValerieUSA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: ValerieUSA
I'm keepin' an eye on you...
51 posted on 11/09/2005 11:00:20 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Down with Dhimmicrats! I last updated my FR profile on Wednesday, November 2, 2005.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: Maximus of Texas

I don't have to fake it. :)


52 posted on 11/09/2005 11:03:26 AM PST by najida (Sometimes the only justice we'll ever get is having our story heard.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Maximus of Texas

I don't have to fake it. :)


53 posted on 11/09/2005 11:04:14 AM PST by najida (Sometimes the only justice we'll ever get is having our story heard.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Maximus of Texas
please don't tell us that you fake laugh at our humor

Well, just like the other example you gave, we will laugh if your are GOOD at telling a joke. Or if you really do have GOOD material.

Otherwise, you get the blank stare and the walk away.

54 posted on 11/09/2005 12:18:00 PM PST by teenyelliott (Soylent green should be made outta liberals...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: najida

Send a video so I can take notes with what I am doing wrong.


55 posted on 11/09/2005 1:20:17 PM PST by Maximus of Texas (On my signal, pull my finger)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: Maximus of Texas

Why don't YOU send a video and I can send you back a critique >:>


56 posted on 11/09/2005 1:24:31 PM PST by najida (Sometimes the only justice we'll ever get is having our story heard.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: najida; EX52D

I promised EX52D that I would never release it.


57 posted on 11/09/2005 1:25:41 PM PST by Maximus of Texas (On my signal, pull my finger)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: Maximus of Texas

Ok Max, what are you dragging me into now? :)


58 posted on 11/09/2005 1:27:38 PM PST by EX52D
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: EX52D

59 posted on 11/09/2005 1:35:02 PM PST by Maximus of Texas (On my signal, pull my finger)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: Maximus of Texas

I wasn't talking about you sitting on her front porch begging.

'sides, I think it's locked up with the restraining order.


60 posted on 11/09/2005 1:37:32 PM PST by najida (Sometimes the only justice we'll ever get is having our story heard.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-68 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson