It’s a trait often requested in lonely hearts ads and scientists have now shown that a good sense of humour is important for women, but not men, in choosing a romantic partner.

A woman is even willing to overlook other shortcomings in a man if he can make her laugh, researchers said on Tuesday.

“Our results suggest that humour can positively affect desirability as a relationship partner but this effect is most likely to occur when men use humour and are evaluated by women,” said Eric Bressler, of Westfield State College in Massachusetts.

Bressler and Sigal Balshine, of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada demonstrated in an experiment that a good sense of humour - G.S.O.H. as it appears in personal ads - does make a difference.

They showed groups of women pictures of two equally attractive men and presented autobiographical statements that were either funny or serious.

After reversing the experiment and showing groups of men photographs of two women, they asked both sexes to select who they would choose as a romantic partner.

The humorous people were seen as more socially adept but less trustworthy, honest and intelligent. Men did not select the funny person but women did.

“Women chose funny men as relationship partners despite often rating them as less honest and intelligent,” the researchers said in the study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.

Funny men were preferred even if their humour was unsophisticated, the researchers added.