That was clever of you! Perspectives and verbal irony

What does ironic language indicate about an emotional state? When we experience negative events, we may produce an ironic comment about our experience to cope. We tested whether using irony indexes less negative emotional states of speakers and listeners compared to literal statements. In addition,...

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Main Authors: Pfeifer Valeria A., Mehl Matthias R., Lai Vicky Tzuyin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2024-01-01
Series:Psychology of Language and Communication
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.58734/plc-2024-0014
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author Pfeifer Valeria A.
Mehl Matthias R.
Lai Vicky Tzuyin
author_facet Pfeifer Valeria A.
Mehl Matthias R.
Lai Vicky Tzuyin
author_sort Pfeifer Valeria A.
collection DOAJ
description What does ironic language indicate about an emotional state? When we experience negative events, we may produce an ironic comment about our experience to cope. We tested whether using irony indexes less negative emotional states of speakers and listeners compared to literal statements. In addition, we tested whether comments directed at the self (“How clumsy/careful of me!”) lead to a different emotional state compared to statements directed at someone else (“How clumsy/careful of you!”). We found that listeners were rated as feeling more negative and more aroused when a statement was directed at them, whereas for speakers, direction did not matter. Further, self-irony led to lower ratings of negativity in speakers. Our results show that whether or not someone is an addressee of a statement matters for their perceived emotional state, and that self-irony may index down-regulated emotional states.
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spelling doaj-art-268ed77cd2864b3e91b32a671d6a700c2025-02-02T15:49:16ZengSciendoPsychology of Language and Communication2083-85062024-01-0128138941410.58734/plc-2024-0014That was clever of you! Perspectives and verbal ironyPfeifer Valeria A.0Mehl Matthias R.1Lai Vicky Tzuyin21Psychology, University of Arizona, United States1Psychology, University of Arizona, United States1Psychology, University of Arizona, United StatesWhat does ironic language indicate about an emotional state? When we experience negative events, we may produce an ironic comment about our experience to cope. We tested whether using irony indexes less negative emotional states of speakers and listeners compared to literal statements. In addition, we tested whether comments directed at the self (“How clumsy/careful of me!”) lead to a different emotional state compared to statements directed at someone else (“How clumsy/careful of you!”). We found that listeners were rated as feeling more negative and more aroused when a statement was directed at them, whereas for speakers, direction did not matter. Further, self-irony led to lower ratings of negativity in speakers. Our results show that whether or not someone is an addressee of a statement matters for their perceived emotional state, and that self-irony may index down-regulated emotional states.https://doi.org/10.58734/plc-2024-0014speakerlistenerverbal ironyemotionemotion regulationself-talk
spellingShingle Pfeifer Valeria A.
Mehl Matthias R.
Lai Vicky Tzuyin
That was clever of you! Perspectives and verbal irony
Psychology of Language and Communication
speaker
listener
verbal irony
emotion
emotion regulation
self-talk
title That was clever of you! Perspectives and verbal irony
title_full That was clever of you! Perspectives and verbal irony
title_fullStr That was clever of you! Perspectives and verbal irony
title_full_unstemmed That was clever of you! Perspectives and verbal irony
title_short That was clever of you! Perspectives and verbal irony
title_sort that was clever of you perspectives and verbal irony
topic speaker
listener
verbal irony
emotion
emotion regulation
self-talk
url https://doi.org/10.58734/plc-2024-0014
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