Gender stereotypes related to non-literal language: the case of irony

Zdawać by się mogło, że codzienna doktryna komunikowania zasadniczno opiera się na odpowiedzialności za to, co się mówi lub implikuje, a nie za to, jak jest to interpretowane i rozumiane. Uzasadnione jest jednak pytanie o to, dlaczego różni odbiorcy są skłonni do różnych interpretacji i kwestia ta wydaje się mieć szczególne znaczenie w dyskursie nad językiem niedosłownym. Wypowiedź ironiczna stanowi wyzwanie dla odbiorcy, gdyż jej dosłowna interpretacja jest sprzeczna z podzielaną wiedzą i kontekstem sytuacyjnym. Odbiorca jest więc zmuszony do dokonania wyboru i rozwiązania sprzeczności. Ironia, łączona z procesem podlegającym konfliktowi przetwarzania danych wejściowych, stanowi niewątpliwie ciekawe pole do badania mechanizmu selektywności w komunikacji. Zajmując się zagadnieniem języka niedosłownego z perspektywy aktywizacji stereotypu płci, nie sposób nie postawić więc pytania o to, dlaczego każde intrapsychiczne ‘oprogramowanie’ przetwarzania danych zdaje się inaczej działać w zależności od typu użytkownika. Co sprawia, że opcje edycji tekstu Wytnij, Kopiuj-Wklej są różnie wykorzystywane przy obróbce każdej dowolnej wypowiedzi? Celem niniejszej rozprawy jest zbadanie tego, w jaki sposób: płeć, samoocena i lęk odgrywają rolę w generowaniu i postrzeganiu ironii werbalnej oraz autoironii, a także ich znaczenia dla tworzenia obrazu własnej osoby (JA) w tym procesie. Dotychczas opisywane teoretyczne modele ironii, wraz z wzajemnie wykluczającymi się wynikami badań wynikającymi z tych propozycji, nie doprowadziły, jak dotąd, do spójnej i w pełni przekonującej koncepcji ironii. Dlatego też zaprojektowane i opisywane w tej pracy badania (trzy) mają charakter eksploracyjny. Na próbie 240 uczestników przeanalizowano, przy zastosowaniu autorskiego Testu Tworzenia i Percepcji Ironii, wzorce reakcji na ironię werbalną wśród dorosłych mężczyzn i kobiet. Wyniki skorelowano dodatkowo z: poczuciem własnej wartości mierzonym Skalą Samooceny Rosenberga (SES); lękiem mierzonym Inwentarzem Stanu i Cechy Lęku (STAI) oraz płcią psychologiczną, do pomiaru której zastosowano Inwentarz do Oceny Płci Psychologicznej (IPP). Badania przeprowadzono w trzech warunkach eksperymentalnych ze zwględu na rodzaj zadania wstępnego torującego: aktywizacji stereotypu płci w kontekście pozytywnym, negatywnym oraz w grupie kontrolnej. Celem przeprowadzonych badań była analiza tworzenia ironii, posługiwania się autorionią oraz zwiazku przetwarzania ironii ze stanami afektywnymi i obrazem wlasnej osoby. W Badaniu 1 zaobserwowano efekt płci ze względu na tworzenie ironii w odpowiedzi zarówno na ironiczną krytykę (krytykę przez pochwałę), jak i ironiczną pochwałę (komplement, który na poziomie dosłownym ma wydźwięk negatywny). Mężczyźni częściej tworzyli ironię w odpowiedzi na ironię niż kobiety. Wyniki są omawiane w ramach teorii porównań społecznych (Turner i in., 1987; Guimond i in., 2006, Wojciszke, 2010) oraz aktywizacji stereotypów na gruncie asymetrii językowej (Maass i in., 1996; Burgers i Beukeboom, 2016). W Badaniu 2 zaobserwowano efekt płci ze względu na stosowanie autoironii w formie domyślnego humoru autoreferencyjnego. Mężczyźni okazali się być znacznie częściej autoironiczni niż kobiety, podczas gdy kobiety częściej jawnie dezawuowały własną osobę oraz wykazywały się częstszą samokrytyką. Znaczenie ironii w obrazie własnej osoby jest omawiane w ramach teorii (auto)prezentacji (Baumeister, 1982; Baumesiter i in., 1989; Ungar,1984). W Badaniu 3 analizie poddano przepływ informacji ze względu na nacechowanie afektywne komunikatu ironicznego. Zaobserwowano efekt płci ze zględu na a) rozpoznawanie intencji nadawcy komunikatu oraz b) walencję, czyli znak afektywny (w wymiarze pozytywny/negatywny) emocji odczuwanych przez odbiorcę pochwały ironicznej. Analiza emocji, przeprowadzona w oparciu o model kołowy Russella (1980) oraz model kategorialny Parrotta (2001) wykazała, że mężczyźni częsciej odczuwali emocje pozytywne, podczas gdy kobiety − emocje negatywne. Uważa się więc, że przypisywanie wypowiedziom określonego ładunku afektywnego stoi za mechanizmem przetwarzania i posługiwania się ironią. W wyniku przeprowadzonych analiz zaproponowano koncepcję ironii jako obronnego mechanizmu autoregulacji. Przedstawione w niniejszej pracy poszukiwania sensu i znaczenia komunikacji niedosłownej, przy zwróceniu uwagi na wpływ zmiennych indywidualnych (płci biologicznej i − psychologicznej, lęku oraz samooceny) oraz kontekstualnych (sytuacji i konfiguracji układu uczestników), stanowią pierwszą tego typu kompleksową próbę badawczą z zakresu przetwarzania i posługiwania się ironią.The everyday doctrine of communication is that one principally takes responsibility for what one says or implies, and not for how it is interpreted or what might be inferred. However, the question of why different audiences are inclined to make different interpretations is a valid one. This question seems especially important for the discussion of non-literal language exchange. An ironic statement presents a challenge to the audience, with its literal interpretation contradicting shared understandings or beliefs. The receiver is forced to select from these conflicting data inputs, using the context of the conversation, in order to resolve the contradiction. This implicit selectivity in irony, and how gender stereotypes affect the choice made, undoubtedly constitute an interesting field of study. The aim of this research is to analyse how gender, self-esteem and anxiety play a role in the generation and perception of irony and self-mockery, and its effect upon self-image. The current theoretical models of irony, together with empirical research linked to those proposals have not, so far, resulted in a coherent and fully convincing concept of irony. Hence, the experimental studies (3) described in this dissertation are of exploratory nature. On the sample of 240 participants, an original tool Irony Generation and Perception Test (IGPT) was used to analyze different reaction patterns to verbal irony among adult men and women. The results were additionally correlated with: self-esteem measured by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES); anxiety measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI); and the psychological gender, for which the Gender Assessment Inventory (Polish IPP) was applied. Data was collected under three experimental conditions, as to the type of gender stereotype activation used in the pre-task priming: positive conditioning, negative conditioning and control group. In Study 1, the gender effect was observed as to irony use in response to ironic criticism and in response to ironic praise. Men generated ironic responses more often than women. The results are discussed within the framework of the theory of social comparisons (Turner et al.,1987; Guimond et al., 2006, Wojciszke, 2010) and intergroup linguistic bias (Maass et al.., 1996; Burgers and Beukeboom, 2016). In Study 2, the gender effect was observed as to the use of implicit self-referential humor. Men turned out to use more (positive) self-mockery than women, while women referred more frequently to an explicit self-derogation and self-criticism. The importance of self-mockery in the image of one's self is discussed within the framework of the self-presentation strategies (Baumeister, 1982; Baumesiter et al., 1989; Ungar, 1984). In Study 3, the affective valence (positive / negative) and emotional arousal (high/low) were subject of the information flow analysis on the example of an ironic praise (a compliment with a negative overtone). The gender effect in valence was observed. The analysis of affect in irony, based on Russell's (1980) circumplex model of emotion and Parrott‘s (2001) tree-structured classification of emotions, showed that men were more likely to experience positive emotions, whereas more women reported negative affect. It is believed therefore that affective valence ascribed to a non-literal message acts as the principal mechanism delineating the use of irony. What might make irony more popular among men than women is their more positive attitude towards it. On the other hand, as irony seems among women to be associated with more negative attitudes, they simply use it less. Following the experimental research and analysis, a new approach to irony and self-mockery is proposed, labelled as a self-defense mechanism of self-regulation. The search for meaning and importance of non-literal communication presented in this research work, reflecting on the individual differences (sex, gender, fear and self-esteem) as well as contextual variables (specific situation and configuration of its participants), becomes the integrated research attempt of this kind in the field of the theory of irony

A Short Etude on Irony in Storytelling

This paper presents an overview of chosen concepts of irony as a communicative unit in the repertoire of the speaker. It adopts a framework of narration with emphasis on how minds in interactions co-construct meanings. Irony, which means more than it says, is always used with a specific attitude attached. Irony is thus an act of narrating the speakers’ mind, but in the speaker-hearer meaning perspective

Zing Zing Bang Bang: How Do You Know What She Really Meant. Gender Bias in Response to Irony: The Role of Who is Speaking to Whom

Literature points towards the role of context in irony interpretation and the existence of gender differences in language use. We decided to examine the influence of interlocutors’ gender stereotypes on interpreting and reacting to ironic criticism in conversation. To this end, we designed two experiments gathering participants’ responses to the same ironic utterances voiced both by women and by men in control and gender stereotype activation conditions. Results of the first experiment showed that women tended to use irony significantly more often when responding to a man than to another woman. The second, ongoing experiment will additionally examine participants’ response times and total time of utterance in respect to their addressee’s gender. The results are discussed with regard to the social comparison theory (Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987) and the linguistic intergroup bias theory (Wigboldus & Douglas, 2007)

When Sugar-Coated Words Taste Dry: The Relationship between Gender, Anxiety, and Response to Irony

This article approaches the question of mocking compliments and ironic praise from an interactional gender perspective. A statement such as “You're a real genius!” could easily be interpreted as a literal compliment, as playful humor or as an offensive insult. We investigate this thin line in the use of irony among adult men and women. The research introduces an interactional approach to irony, through the lens of gender stereotype bias. The main question concerns the impact of individual differences and gender effect on the perception and production of ironic comments. Irony Processing Task (IPT), developed by Milanowicz (2016), was applied in order to study the production and perception of ironic criticism and ironic praise in adult males and females. It is a rare case of a study measuring the ability to create irony because, unlike most of known irony research, it is not a multiple choice test where participants are given the response options. The IPT was also used to assess the asymmetry of affect (humor vs. malice) and impact of gender effect in the perception of ironic comments. Results are analyzed in relation to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scores. The findings reveal the interactional relationship between gender and response to irony. Male responses were consistently more ironic than female's, across all experimental conditions, and female responses varied more. Both, men and women used more irony in response to male ironic criticism but female ironic praise. Anxiety proved to be a moderate predictor of irony comprehension and willingness to use irony. Data, collected in control and two gender stereotype activation conditions, also corroborates the assumption that the detection of compliments and the detection of criticism can be moderated by the attitude activation effect. The results are interpreted within the framework of linguistic intergroup bias (LIB) and natural selection strategies

Table2.pdf

<p>This article approaches the question of mocking compliments and ironic praise from an interactional gender perspective. A statement such as “You're a real genius!” could easily be interpreted as a literal compliment, as playful humor or as an offensive insult. We investigate this thin line in the use of irony among adult men and women. The research introduces an interactional approach to irony, through the lens of gender stereotype bias. The main question concerns the impact of individual differences and gender effect on the perception and production of ironic comments. Irony Processing Task (IPT), developed by Milanowicz (2016), was applied in order to study the production and perception of ironic criticism and ironic praise in adult males and females. It is a rare case of a study measuring the ability to create irony because, unlike most of known irony research, it is not a multiple choice test where participants are given the response options. The IPT was also used to assess the asymmetry of affect (humor vs. malice) and impact of gender effect in the perception of ironic comments. Results are analyzed in relation to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scores. The findings reveal the interactional relationship between gender and response to irony. Male responses were consistently more ironic than female's, across all experimental conditions, and female responses varied more. Both, men and women used more irony in response to male ironic criticism but female ironic praise. Anxiety proved to be a moderate predictor of irony comprehension and willingness to use irony. Data, collected in control and two gender stereotype activation conditions, also corroborates the assumption that the detection of compliments and the detection of criticism can be moderated by the attitude activation effect. The results are interpreted within the framework of linguistic intergroup bias (LIB) and natural selection strategies.</p

Table1.pdf

<p>This article approaches the question of mocking compliments and ironic praise from an interactional gender perspective. A statement such as “You're a real genius!” could easily be interpreted as a literal compliment, as playful humor or as an offensive insult. We investigate this thin line in the use of irony among adult men and women. The research introduces an interactional approach to irony, through the lens of gender stereotype bias. The main question concerns the impact of individual differences and gender effect on the perception and production of ironic comments. Irony Processing Task (IPT), developed by Milanowicz (2016), was applied in order to study the production and perception of ironic criticism and ironic praise in adult males and females. It is a rare case of a study measuring the ability to create irony because, unlike most of known irony research, it is not a multiple choice test where participants are given the response options. The IPT was also used to assess the asymmetry of affect (humor vs. malice) and impact of gender effect in the perception of ironic comments. Results are analyzed in relation to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scores. The findings reveal the interactional relationship between gender and response to irony. Male responses were consistently more ironic than female's, across all experimental conditions, and female responses varied more. Both, men and women used more irony in response to male ironic criticism but female ironic praise. Anxiety proved to be a moderate predictor of irony comprehension and willingness to use irony. Data, collected in control and two gender stereotype activation conditions, also corroborates the assumption that the detection of compliments and the detection of criticism can be moderated by the attitude activation effect. The results are interpreted within the framework of linguistic intergroup bias (LIB) and natural selection strategies.</p

DataSheet1.pdf

<p>This article approaches the question of mocking compliments and ironic praise from an interactional gender perspective. A statement such as “You're a real genius!” could easily be interpreted as a literal compliment, as playful humor or as an offensive insult. We investigate this thin line in the use of irony among adult men and women. The research introduces an interactional approach to irony, through the lens of gender stereotype bias. The main question concerns the impact of individual differences and gender effect on the perception and production of ironic comments. Irony Processing Task (IPT), developed by Milanowicz (2016), was applied in order to study the production and perception of ironic criticism and ironic praise in adult males and females. It is a rare case of a study measuring the ability to create irony because, unlike most of known irony research, it is not a multiple choice test where participants are given the response options. The IPT was also used to assess the asymmetry of affect (humor vs. malice) and impact of gender effect in the perception of ironic comments. Results are analyzed in relation to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scores. The findings reveal the interactional relationship between gender and response to irony. Male responses were consistently more ironic than female's, across all experimental conditions, and female responses varied more. Both, men and women used more irony in response to male ironic criticism but female ironic praise. Anxiety proved to be a moderate predictor of irony comprehension and willingness to use irony. Data, collected in control and two gender stereotype activation conditions, also corroborates the assumption that the detection of compliments and the detection of criticism can be moderated by the attitude activation effect. The results are interpreted within the framework of linguistic intergroup bias (LIB) and natural selection strategies.</p