Laughing at his jokes

Apparently, it's not enough to just think your date is funny, he also has to know you think he's funny. A study performed by three universities across the United States and Canada found that while both men and women are attracted to people who have a "good sense of humor," men interpret this phrase differently than women. They're not necessarily looking for a partner who is funny herself, but one that can appreciate a good joke — or more specifically, their jokes. 

"Men emphasized the importance of their partners' receptivity to their own humor," the abstract read. Translation: men like it when women laugh at their jokes, but they don't care so much whether said woman is funny herself. A different study (via Mating Intelligence Unleashed) by a neuroscientist and professor of psychology at the University of Maryland found that women, too, are more likely to see themselves as the partner who appreciates humor, but not necessarily the one who produces humor. Hmm, there's a lot to unpack here — don't shoot the messenger.

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