Does Sarcasm Always Sting? Investigating the Impact of Ironic Insults and Ironic Compliments

Pexman, Penny M.; Olineck, Kara M.

doi:10.1207/s15326950dp3303_1

Cited by 129 publications

(123 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Lack of any of these factors could lead to confusion and/or a lack of comprehension. The adolescent participants in the present study clearly understood irony, as described by Pexman and colleagues (Pexman & Glenwright, 2007;Pexman, et al, 2005;Pexman & Olineck, 2002) and understood it well enough to deploy it for multiple end goals. What accounts for the development from age 8 years to the teenage years?…”

Section: The Development Of Humor and Irony Comprehensionsupporting

confidence: 59%

“…Much recent work (e.g., Pexman & Olineck, 2002;Pexman & Glenwright, 2007;Whalen & Pexman, 2010) has focused on children's understanding of ironic compliments (e.g., saying "You're a terrible friend" when in fact the person is a fine friend) and ironic criticism (e.g., saying "You're a great friend" when in fact the person has just said something insulting), but relatively little research has explored the broader range of types of irony used by children and youth. We have documented examples of ironic criticism and ironic compliments (Lorraine's "You're a terrible, terrible friend" and "Nice one"), but we have also observed various other types of irony.…”

Section: Types Of Ironymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, Colston (1997) argued that ironic statements do not serve to soften criticism, but instead they enhance it: He reported that ironic criticism enhanced condemnation rather than diluting it (Colston, 1997). To reconcile these disparate views, Pexman and Olineck (2002) hypothesized that for ironic insults the tinge function might only apply when one considers the listener's reception (i.e., the way they understand the statement) and might not apply when considering speaker intent alone (i.e., the motivation of the speaker which may or may not be obvious to a listener). Their research supported this hypothesis in that ironic insults were rated as more polite than literal insults, but they were also rated as more mocking and sarcastic than direct insults.…”

Section: Functions Of Irony Usementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

“If Everyone Copies Me, Thailand Will Be So Much Better Off”: The Power of Verbal Irony in Youth Conversation

Cameron

Hedman

Didkowsky

et al. 2013

IJCYFS

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This paper explores the types of verbal irony employed by resilient youth in spontaneous conversation and examines how they use this irony to navigate potentially challenging psychosocial terrain. We documented and analyzed instances of irony in the spontaneous speech of adolescent participants in an international, ecological study of resilience using quasi-naturalistic and participatory visual methods. We found irony to be co-constructively utilized by the youths we studied. They spontaneously used many types of irony to mute criticism and avoid embarrassment. These resilient youth, who were thriving under adverse circumstances, used irony in a positive way to facilitate affiliation with their friends and family.

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Section: The Development Of Humor and Irony Comprehensionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Section: Types Of Ironymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Functions Of Irony Usementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

“If Everyone Copies Me, Thailand Will Be So Much Better Off”: The Power of Verbal Irony in Youth Conversation

Cameron

Hedman

Didkowsky

et al. 2013

IJCYFS

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show abstract

“…If pragmatics is to account for the gap between what people say and what they mean, it needs to account for how they feel about what they say. Pexman and Olineck (2002) found that ironic arguments could have the intention of being more hurtful, but may not be rated as negatively as a literal argument of the same caliber. Considering there may be some variability in the acceptance of an ironic statement, Jorgensen (1996) argues that in order to consider whether sarcasm or irony can be an effective mode of communication, one must learn more about the perceptions of the recipient of such an attack.…”

Section: Background More Than Words… Social Functions Of Ironymentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Kreutz and Glucksberg (1989) and Roberts and Kreutz (1994) noted that irony brings humor. Also, examination of adults' perceptions indicates that ironic remarks are often viewed as funnier and more playful than literal remarks (Gibbs, 2000;Kreutz et al, 1991) and that ironic speakers tend to be viewed as humorous (Pexman and Olineck, 2002). These results seem especially interesting when we collate these figures with several studies on children, which show that though they appreciate the muting function of verbal irony they do not show appreciation Unauthenticated Download Date | 5/12/18 1:13 AM of the humor in irony.…”

Section: Background More Than Words… Social Functions Of Ironymentioning

confidence: 99%

Irony as a Means of Perception Through Communication Channels. Emotions, Attitude and IQ Related to Irony Across Gender

Milanowicz¹

2013

Psychology of Language and Communication

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The paper explores why certain adults are, or at least consider themselves to be, more ironic than others. The study looked at comprehension and application of irony compared to subjective affective evaluation of irony reported by Polish-speaking adults and with relation to nonverbal intelligence measured with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised-Polish versions (WAIS-R(PL), 2004). Fifty-four subjects aged 20-66 years (28 females and 26 males) participated in Study 1 on subjective perception of irony. The comprehension, emotional valence and social functions of ironic meanings as well as the degree to which subjects perceived themselves as ironic were assessed through a self-report questionnaire. Inter-correlations were performed and related to the performance quotient (IQ) which was measured in Study 2, where 45 (24 females and 21 males) out of the 54 participants were tested with performance subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised-Polish versions (WAIS-R(PL), 2004). The nonverbal intelligence scale was administered. Performance on nonverbal intelligence tests is not limited by language abilities and its analysis and can be considered important for future cultural comparative studies. Subjects who perceived themselves as ironic showed a higher nonverbal IQ in comparison to subjects who described themselves as non-ironic or barely ironic. The pragmatic qualities of irony were analyzed for their affective valuation and balanced for gender. Individual differences and gender effects in the perception of the social functions of ironic utterances were found. The paper describes the implicit emotional layer conveyed in irony and its importance in irony processing and comprehension.

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Irony comprehension: Social conceptual knowledge and emotional response

Akimoto

Sugiura

Yomogida

et al. 2013

Human Brain Mapping

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Verbal irony conveys various emotional messages, from criticism to humor, that differ from the meaning of the actual words. To understand irony, we need conceptual knowledge of irony in addition to an understanding of context. We investigated the neural mechanism of irony comprehension, focusing on two overlooked issues: conceptual knowledge and emotional response. We studied 35 healthy subjects who underwent functional MRI. During the scan, the subject examined first-person-view stories describing verbal interactions, some of which included irony directed toward the subject. After MRI, the subject viewed the stories again and rated the degree of irony, humor, and negative emotion evoked by the statements. We identified several key findings about irony comprehension: (1) the right anterior superior temporal gyrus may be responsible for representing social conceptual knowledge of irony, (2) activation in the medial prefrontal cortex and the right anterior inferior temporal gyrus might underlie the understanding of context, (3) modulation of activity in the right amygdala, hippocampus, and parahippocampal gyrus is associated with the degree of irony perceived, and (4) modulation of activity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex varies with the degree of humor perceived. Our results clarified the differential contributions of the neural loci of irony comprehension, enriching our understanding of pragmatic language communication from a social behavior point of view.

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Does Sarcasm Always Sting? Investigating the Impact of Ironic Insults and Ironic Compliments

Cited by 129 publications

References 17 publications

“If Everyone Copies Me, Thailand Will Be So Much Better Off”: The Power of Verbal Irony in Youth Conversation

“If Everyone Copies Me, Thailand Will Be So Much Better Off”: The Power of Verbal Irony in Youth Conversation

Irony as a Means of Perception Through Communication Channels. Emotions, Attitude and IQ Related to Irony Across Gender

Irony comprehension: Social conceptual knowledge and emotional response

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