In what is sure to incite some fiery debate between the sexes, a recent study has found that men are funnier than women… just.
The University of California San Diego found that men held the title by the slimmest of margins, with research — published in the Psychonomic Bulletin and Review — showing men won by just 0.11 points, the Huffington Post reports.
Researchers used a novel method of reaching this conclusion, tasking 16 male and 16 female undergraduates with writing humorous captions for 20 New Yorker comics.
A judging panel — made up of 34 males and 47 females (just in case you thought that’s where the bias might have been hiding) — used a system of elimination to determine the results.
The judging seemed to indicate that the men found the other men funny, which was bad news for those looking for a boost in the romance stakes.
“Sad for the guys,” the report’s co-author Nicholas Christenfeld said, “who think that by being funny they will impress the ladies, but really just impress other men who want to impress the ladies.”
Christenfeld also suggested that men might be slightly ahead as they try harder to get a laugh and do so more often.
Thousands of women silently nod their heads.
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