How do you make sense of Barack Obama and John McCain? The odds are that you judge them mainly on two dimensions: warm/cold and (in)competence. Depending on your experience of them, you may judge one of them as both warm and competent, evoking your admiration and pride; and perhaps the other as neither warm nor competent, which triggers a sense of contempt and disgust. Or perhaps you view one as warm but not competent, which generates pity and sympathy; or finally, you could judge one of them as cold but competent, leading to feelings of resentment and even envy. All the media hoopla boils...

Is a funny pick-up line a good idea, or will it hurt your chances? The role of humor in courtship is a fascinating puzzle that is beginning to receive empirical attention. The current article provides a glimpse at when and why humor might be useful during romantic relationship initiation, and explains how your humor style might affect your success in attracting a potential romantic partner. If you were to list all the attractive qualities that you might look for in a potential romantic partner, chances are that a “good sense of humor” would rank high on your list. Someone who makes you laugh...