The class clown is more likely to be male. That’s according to research led by a guy called Robert Provine. He observed 1,200 situations over a one year period. Provine and his assistants wanted to find out what role gender played in humor, jokes and laughter. “In conversations between men and women, females laughed 126 percent more than their male counterparts,” reported Psychology Today, adding that “females do the most laughing while males do the most laugh-getting.”

They also found that when men are with other men, they laugh only about half as often as women do when they’re with their girlfriends. And that women didn’t really care who they were with. They laughed more regardless. But, women prefer to do the laughing, and not the joking.

Several other studies have shown that women prefer men with a great sense of humor. Apparently they find funny men clever. As Psych Central reported, "Evolutionary psychologists have theorized that a sense of humor is a sign of intellect and strong genes and that women, the more selective sex due to the burdens associated with pregnancy, are attracted to funny men because of the genetic benefit that could be bestowed upon potential offspring.”

Paul Osincup is a humor strategist and the author of “The Humor Habit”. He helps companies boost positivity and productivity by injecting some funny into their work culture. Osincup told Ask Men that being funny both puts your date at ease and pulls them in. “Not only that, but laughter also boosts the hormone responsible for human connection — oxytocin,” said Osincup.

It’s a statement backed up by other experts. Like Mark Verber, a professional counselor at EPIC Counseling Solutions. “Whether it’s the first-date jitters or talking about retirement plans 40 years later, laughter helps to lighten the mood,” he told Ask Men. He added that when he asks his clients what initially attracted them to each other, most say a great sense of humor.

What’s considered funny differs between men and women. Same applies when they’re being funny. Ladies like a more storytelling approach, and sharing hilarious things that happened. Guys prefer one-liners and often engage in slapstick. Think “dad jokes”. Professor of psychology at the University of Zurich, Willibald Ruch, has invested a huge amount of time in investigating the subject. He scrutinized research about humor and gender differences done between 1977 and 2018. And here’s what he found…

Men and women understand the same jokes but don’t appreciate them in the same way, “Differences primarily exist in the production of aggressive humor, such as cynicism and sarcasm, and to a lesser extent in the context-free creation of jokes and punchlines,” wrote Horizons Mag when reporting on Ruch’s findings.

While being funny might work in your favor as a man, the opposite can apply to women. According to studies, women who cracked a joke during business presentations were considered less competent than those who kept it serious when addressing colleagues.

As the Harvard Business Review notes, “Humor expressed by males is likely to be interpreted as more functional and less disruptive compared with humor expressed by females.” It goes on to say that funny guys get a higher status than men with a dull sense of humor. Funny females are taken less seriously than those who keep a straight face at work.