Study: why self-deprecating humour is attractive

Exhibitionistcouples · 2013-11-11T07:34:29+00:00

God, that's terrible. Things like this are why the rest of psychology laughs at the evolutionary branch.

There are three basic reasons it can be attractive.

1) It demonstrates self esteem. If you can genuinely laugh at your flaws it shows others that you believe there are more than enough good things about you to outweigh the bad.

2) It demonstrates demeanor towards yourself and others. A positive person can see flaws and like someone anyway. A negative person sees flaws and has negative reactions to them, which others mirror. Negative people are also far more likely to tear others (or themselves, if they have low self esteem) down. It's pretty obvious that you can demonstrate that you're a positive person by making light of flaws rather than foisting judgements on everyone around you.

3) It demonstrates intelligence. Through self awareness, or through a clever turn of phrase. I don't think I need to explain why that's attractive.

TheRedditorist · 2013-11-11T07:56:44+00:00

"We theorize that high-status individuals can more easily afford to make fun of themselves. Self-deprecating humor for them may be a form of self-handicapping,following the logic of costly signaling theory... All else being equal, use of self-deprecating humor is associated with lower conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability (the opposite of neuroticism).. Self- and other-deprecating humor lower levels of these traits are normally considered unattractive. Thus, the use of self-deprecating humor by low-status individuals may be counter-productive "

This only works under the mentality/frame that you are a HIGH STATUS individual using self-deprecating humor (being ironic). I wouldn't suggest using this unless you already have impeccable confidence and your audience knows your underlying message of humor.

Title	Study: why self-deprecating humour is attractive
Author	roosterblue
Upvotes	4
Comments	2
Date	November 11, 2013 2:29 AM UTC (12 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/seduction
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/seduction/comments/1qck1t/study_why_selfdeprecating_humour_is_attractive/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/seduction/study-why-self-deprecating-humour-is-attractive.1361403 https://theredarchive.com/post/1361403

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