Dissing Oneself versus Dissing Rivals

Effects of Status, Personality, and Sex on the Short-Term and Long-Term Attractiveness of Self-Deprecating and Other-Deprecating Humor

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5774263
AutoresGil Greengro (0000-0002-7067-8859, University of New Mexico, autor de correspondencia), Gil Greengross (University of New Mexico), Geoffrey F Miller (0000-0002-6026-5372, University of New Mexico)
Año2008
Volumen6
Número3
Páginas6/3/147470490800600303
Fecha de publicación2008-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaEvolutionary Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1474-7049 • E-ISSN: 1474-7049
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/147470490800600303
OpenAlexW2184185320
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas43
Referencias citadas34

This study explores the adaptive functions and design features of self-and other-deprecating humor. Sixty-four female and 32 male college students participated in a two-part study. In the first part, we examined the relationships among participant demographics, personality traits, and preferences for producing different types of humor. Men report using more other-deprecating humor than women do, and the use of other-deprecating humor decreases with age for both sexes. In the second part of the study, each participant listened to tape recordings of opposite-sex people who were described as having different levels of status, and who produced different types of humor; then participants rated each person's attractiveness as a potential short-term and long-term mate. Humor type and presenter status had no effects on short-term attractiveness, but self-deprecating humor by high-status presenters (but not low-status presenters) increased long-term attractiveness for both sexes. These results are discussed in the light of sexual selection theory and costly signaling theory

Demographics · Physical attractiveness · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Humor Studies and Applications · Media, Gender, and Advertising