SELF-DEPRECATION THE KEY TO THE ART OF SEDUCTION
MEN WITH A SELF-DEPRECATING SENSE OF HUMOUR HAVE THE BEST CHANCE OF CHARMING A WOMAN INTO BED
The Telegraph
By Chris Irvine
July 29, 2008
Original LinkAlthough it has long been known that making a woman laugh is the best way to seduce her, new research shows the most successful form of humour comes from one's ability to poke fund at oneself, making men like actor Hugh Grant, 47, most sexually attractive to women.
Bringing attention to your flaws is a high-risk seduction strategy for men however and has the potential to backfire.
'Dissing Oneself: The Sexual Attractiveness of Self-Deprecating Humour,' will be published in next month's Evolutionary Psychology.
During the two-year study, women students listened to tape recordings of men talking about themselves, and we asked to score the men on sexual attractiveness.
Lead researcher Gil Greengross, of the University of New Mexico in the US, said: "Many studies show that a sense of humour is sexually attractive to women but we've found that self-deprecating humour is the most attractive of all.
"People who used this humour were considered to be far more desirable as mates."
He added a note of caution however, saying: "It is a risky form of humour because it can draw attention to one's real faults, thereby diminishing the self-deprecator's status in the eyes of others.
"Think about the secondary school child whom nobody liked, who makes fun of his shortcomings.
"His peers mocked him and he was considered more pathetic than he was previously.
"This is high-risk seduction. It is not for everyone."
Self-deprecation is a very British trait, and problems can arise when the British attempt to do so with a foreign culture.
Americans however love the British sense of humour, with a prime example when Hugh Grant's bumbling British bachelor character charms Andie MacDowell's young sexy American.
In a memorable best man's speech, he says: "This is only the second time I've been a best man. I hope I did OK that time.
"The couple in question are at least still talking to me. Unfortunately, they're not actually talking to each other.
"The divorce came through a couple of months ago. But I'm assured it had absolutely nothing to do with me. Paula knew Piers had slept with her sister before I mentioned it in the speech.
"The fact that he'd slept with her mother came as a surprise but I think was incidental to the nightmare of recrimination and violence that became their two-day marriage."
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NHNE Male/Female/Relationship Research