--- title: Humor Can Improve Your Life: 5 Secrets Backed By Research description: It's good for your health canonical: https://time.com/3932557/humor-improve-life-research/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-26T04:01:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:32:26.586Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Humor Can Improve Your Life: 5 Secrets Backed By Research og:description: It's good for your health og:url: https://time.com/3932557/humor-improve-life-research/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta33c2f9eedc1555d/69885803e53aba4b6f4de50c/184314292-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: smiling-people-sunglasses og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Humor Can Improve Your Life: 5 Secrets Backed By Research twitter:description: It's good for your health twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta33c2f9eedc1555d/69885803e53aba4b6f4de50c/184314292-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Humor Can Improve Your Life: 5 Secrets Backed By Research ## Video: Jerry Seinfeld on How to Make Kids Laugh [Watch (HLS stream): Jerry Seinfeld on How to Make Kids Laugh](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qWLLVw7X.m3u8) (1:57)  _Published 2007-09-26. During some down time at his photo shoot for the magazine, Jerry Seinfeld tells Jess Cagle how he makes his kids laugh._ by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jun 26, 2015 4:01 AM UTC  Smiling friends wearing decorative glasses Smiling friends wearing decorative glassesGetty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jun 26, 2015 4:01 AM UTC * Humor is [our brain’s way of rewarding us for correcting errors in our thinking](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/why-do-we-find-things-funny). It improves our mood because it [takes brainpower to decode the joke](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/why-does-humor-improve-our-mood) and having to think [kills bad feelings](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-more-thinking-be-the-solution-to-bad-feel). Humor can make you more persuasive because humor [mentally disarms people](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-humor-mentally-disarm-us). * Women [find funny guys attractive](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/why-do-women-find-funny-men-attractive) because a [sense of humor = intelligence](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/are-funny-people-smarter-than-average). In fact, you can predict how many women a man has slept with [by how funny he is](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-you-predict-how-many-women-a-man-has-slep). Reliving moments that made the two of you laugh [can improve your relationship](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/another-quick-and-easy-way-to-increase-relati). * Laughter [can improve health](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-comedy-better-than-vitamins). People [who use humor to cope with stress](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-laughter-save-your-life) have better immune systems, reduced risk of heart attack and stroke, experience less pain during dental work and live longer. * Want to make funny things even funnier? [Smile](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-smiling-make-humorous-things-funnier). Laughter [can reduce pain](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/laughters-the-best-remedy-0). Sarcasm can [make you more creative](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-sarcasm-make-you-more-creative). If the “truth” resonates with the listener then, yes, [“it’s funny because it’s true.”](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-it-really-funny-because-its-true) * Playful people [get better grades in school](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-playful-people-get-better-grades-in-school). Humor is important in the workplace too. Fun was [more attractive than compensation or opportunities for promotion](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-important-is-it-to-employees-that-their-w). Only use self-deprecating humor [if you’re actually powerful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/when-should-you-use-self-deprecating-humor). (And powerful people [don’t laugh much](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-you-laugh-a-lot-youre-probably-not-a-power).) **Join over 195,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/5-reasons-why-humor-is-more-powerful-than-you/)**_._** Related posts: [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/) [How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/10/how-to-get-people-to-like-you/) [New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/09/be-more-successful/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3932557/humor-improve-life-research/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3932557/humor-improve-life-research/"},"headline":"Humor Can Improve Your Life: 5 Secrets Backed By Research","datePublished":"2015-06-26T04:01:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:32:26.586Z","description":"It's good for your health","url":"https://time.com/3932557/humor-improve-life-research/","keywords":["Psychology","Humor"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta33c2f9eedc1555d/69885803e53aba4b6f4de50c/184314292-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta33c2f9eedc1555d/69885803e53aba4b6f4de50c/184314292-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"smiling-people-sunglasses","caption":"smiling-people-sunglasses","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3932557/humor-improve-life-research/","name":"Humor Can Improve Your Life: 5 Secrets Backed By Research"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Jerry Seinfeld on How to Make Kids Laugh","description":"During some down time at his photo shoot for the magazine, Jerry Seinfeld tells Jess Cagle how he makes his kids laugh.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/qWLLVw7X/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2007-09-26T14:06:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qWLLVw7X.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3932557/humor-improve-life-research/","duration":"PT1M57S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3932557/humor-improve-life-research/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```