<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>A study was conducted to analyze the influence of situational and individual factors on verbal irony perception. Participants (<italic>N</italic> = 144) rated smartness, criticality, humorousness, and offensiveness of ironic utterances and their literal equivalents. The utterances were put in various contexts, differing in terms of the structure of the interlocutors’ social ranks and the responsibility of the addressee for the described event. Additionally, participants’ state and trait of anxiety were measured using the Polish adaptation of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_plc-2016-0016_ref_039_w2aab2b8c13b1b7b1ab1ac39Aa">Wrześniewski, Sosnowski, Jaworowska, &amp; Fecenec, 2011</xref>) and their social competences were measured with the Social Competences Questionnaire (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_plc-2016-0016_ref_023_w2aab2b8c13b1b7b1ab1ac23Aa">Matczak, 2007</xref>). Analyses showed that the structure of the interlocutors’ social ranks, the addressee’s responsibility, as well as the state and trait of anxiety can influence the perception of irony, although it does not always concern all of the variables rated herein. No link between social competences and irony perception was found.</p></abstract>

A study was conducted to analyze the influence of situational and individual factors on verbal irony perception. Participants (N = 144) rated smartness, criticality, humorousness, and offensiveness of ironic utterances and their literal equivalents. The utterances were put in various contexts, differing in terms of the structure of the interlocutors’ social ranks and the responsibility of the addressee for the described event. Additionally, participants’ state and trait of anxiety were measured using the Polish adaptation of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Wrześniewski, Sosnowski, Jaworowska, & Fecenec, 2011) and their social competences were measured with the Social Competences Questionnaire (Matczak, 2007). Analyses showed that the structure of the interlocutors’ social ranks, the addressee’s responsibility, as well as the state and trait of anxiety can influence the perception of irony, although it does not always concern all of the variables rated herein. No link between social competences and irony perception was found.

The Role of Individual Differences and Situational Factors in Perception of Verbal Irony

Psychology of Language and Communication

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

A study was conducted to analyze the influence of situational and individual factors on verbal irony perception. Participants (N = 144) rated smartness,...

The Role of Individual Differences and Situational Factors in Perception of Verbal Irony

Published Online: Feb 23, 2017

Page range: 255 - 277

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/plc-2016-0016

Keywords
verbal irony, communication, individual differences, anxiety, social competences, social ranks

© 2016 Magda Gucman, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Role of Individual Differences and Situational Factors in Perception of Verbal Irony

Published Online: Feb 23, 2017

Page range: 255 - 277

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/plc-2016-0016

Keywordsverbal irony, communication, individual differences, anxiety, social competences, social ranks

© 2016 Magda Gucman, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
verbal irony, communication, individual differences, anxiety, social competences, social ranks