Psychologists from the Singapore Management University studied the role of humor in long-term romantic relationships. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Psychological Science (PSS).
Humor has long been recognized as a desirable trait in helping people win over a partner in the early stages of dating. Now scientists decided to find out how the ability to notice humorous and humorous situations affects the relationships of people who stay together for a while.
The researchers selected 108 couples who had been in a romantic relationship for at least a year and a half. Participants were asked to keep a diary, noting their impressions of their partner’s perceptions every day for a week. They also recorded their level of satisfaction with the relationship. This allowed experts to study daily fluctuations in the quality of interactions in couples.
Psychologists have found that humor helps maintain mutual interest between partners. According to the findings, humor serves as an indicator of signaling and maintaining interest in relationships.
“We found strong evidence of the ‘interest indicator perspective’ in established relationships. On days when you were more satisfied and committed to the relationship, you found your romantic partner funnier both that day and the next day.
On other days, when you were less satisfied with your relationship and less committed to it, you found your partner less funny,” says Kenneth Tan, the study’s lead author.
In the future, psychologists hope to study the impact of humor on relationships between co-workers or between parents and children.
Previous scientists I learnedWhat factors of romantic compatibility are important for men and women?