Using evolutionary psychology to develop your own prediction about Essay

Using evolutionary psychology to develop your own prediction about communication - Essay Example He believed that laughter could be a sign of genetic fitness that attracts the opposite sex. What is not yet fully known is why men, in particular, are attracted to women’s laughter. The question is: Why can laughter make a woman attractive to men? The false alarm theory and sexual selection theory can be both used to explain why women’s laughter attract men. The false alarm theory states that people laugh to show that any possible anomaly or threat in the environment is not present (i.e. the initially thought of as an anomaly is a false alarm) (Ramachandran, 1998, p.352). It explains that laughter assures others that harm is not present in the environment, which also partially explains why laughter is done more when people are around than when alone (Provine, 1996). In connection to laughter, false alarm theory suggests that women laugh to signal that they are not in danger. They laugh when they are with men because they want to make sure that resources are saved by not sending an incorrect alarm signal. The second theory is sexual selection theory that states that laughter is attractive because it is a sign of fitness. My hypothesis is that women laugh to signal that they are not in harm’s way. This means that laughter reduces risks or perceptions of harm to men. At the same time, women laugh to show that they can take care of their children well because laughter is related to genetic fitness (Bressler & Balshine, 2006). Men are attracted to women who laugh because of lower threats in the environment and perception of women’s genetic fitness. My prediction is that men like women who laugh because the latter’s laughter signal lack of danger and ability to protect their offspring. Women’s ability to expel noise through laughter, is an indicator that they are good sexual mates because they are good mothers. In other words, when women laugh, they look sexier because laughter is connected to their ability to take care of their offspring