Would you have your Ph.D. if sarcasm was a science? Do you hide behind sarcasm because it’s generally considered rude to actually tell people to go fuck themselves? Do you really wish that sarcasm was available as a font so that your friends wouldn’t think that you actually meant that bitchy comment you sent via text? Are you Chandler Bing?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, I’ve got some good news for you. In a newly published study by Harvard (insert sardonic comment re: prestigious Ivy League school here), researchers have found that sarcasm is actually good for you. One of the authors, Adam Galinsky, said: “While most previous research seems to suggest that sarcasm is detrimental to effective communication because it is perceived to be more contemptuous than sincerity, we found that, unlike sarcasm between parties who distrust each other, sarcasm between individuals who share a trusting relationship does not generate more contempt than sincerity.”
In fact, that bitchy banter between your close friends can actually improve your cognitive abilities. One of the other study authors, Francesca Gino, said: “Not only did we demonstrate the causal effect of expressing sarcasm on creativity and explore the relational cost sarcasm expressers and recipients have to endure, we also demonstrated, for the first time, the cognitive benefit sarcasm recipients could reap.”
The study analyzed a group of people who were asked to give either sarcastic or sincere comments before completing a bunch of “creativity-catayzing” (whatever the hell that means) challenges, and found that those who used sarcasm were 64% more likely to solve the problems “more imaginatively.”
Of course they did. .
[via Vice]
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Jenna Crowley
Jenna used to be known as 2NOTBrokeGirls, but then one of the girls actually went broke, so she's struck out on her own. Jenna spends her free time saving the world, one sorority girl at a time (usually while wearing yoga pants), questioning why she decided to get a doctorate, and documenting her love of all things cheese related. You can ask her anything you want about football, using your boobs to get what you want, and pizza at @JennaLCrowley on Twitter or via email at JennaLCrowley@gmail.com.
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