Irony and Language Expectancy Theory: Evaluations of Expectancy Violation Outcomes (*Top Student Paper)

• In Event: Irony, Anger, Rumination, Fear, and Fury: Taking Social Cognition Personally

Abstract

Experimental design was a 2 (literal vs. ironic) x 2 (compliment vs. criticism). The results indicate that the ironic messages were as effective as the literal messages. The ironic messages were also considered more negative, more unexpected, and more likely to be attributed to the sender than literal ones. Shared experiences between sender and receiver are argued as to why ironic message can be both negative and effective without being rejected.

Author

• Joshua Averbeck, University of Oklahoma