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Article published In: Language and Dialogue
Vol. 15:3 (2025) ► pp.411–437

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Self-reported irony and psychosocial factors

A cross-sectional study

 | University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw
 | University of Warsaw
 | The Maria Grzegorzewska University
 | Brock University
 | The Maria Grzegorzewska University
Published online: 9 April 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.00195.kal
Abstract
The current study examines individual differences in self-reported irony use in a sample of 151 young adult females in Poland (Mage = 22.19; SD = 2.17). In addition to self-reported irony use (via the Irony Self-Report Scale, a Polish translation of the Sarcasm Self-Report Scale, SSS, Ivanko, Stacey L., Penny Pexman, and Kara M. Olineck. 2004. “How sarcastic are you? Individual differences and verbal irony.” Journal of Language and Social Psychology 23(3): 244–271. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), we analyzed Big Five personality traits (Ten-Item Personality Inventory, Gosling, Samuel D., Peter J. Rentfrow, and William B. Swann Jr. 2003. “A very brief measure of the Big-Five personality domains.” Journal of Research in Personality 37(6): 504–528. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), humor styles (The Humor Styles Questionnaire, Martin, Rod A., Patricia Puhlik-Doris, Gwen Larsen, Jeanette Gray, and Kelly Weir. 2003. “Individual differences in uses of humor and their relation to psychological well-being: Development of the Humor Styles Questionnaire.” Journal of Research in Personality 37(1): 48–75. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), and self-reported social media use, frequency of face-to-face interactions, and the number of siblings. Self-reported irony use was partially predicted by the personality trait of agreeableness and by three humor styles — aggressive, self-defeating and self-enhancing. Among the other variables, only the number of siblings proved to be a significant predictor of self-reported irony use. Overall, our results add to the emerging literature on individual differences in irony use.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.2Verbal irony
    • 1.3Verbal irony and psychosocial variables
    • 1.4Big Five personality traits, gender, and irony
    • 1.5Irony use, gender, and cultural context
    • 1.6Additional variables
  • 2.The current study
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Transparency and openness
    • 3.2Participants
    • 3.3Materials
    • 3.4Procedure
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Self-reported irony use and Big Five personality traits
    • 4.2Self-reported irony use and humor styles
    • 4.3Self-reported irony use, self-reported social media use, and self-reported time spent with friends face-to-face
    • 4.4Regression analysis
      • 4.4.1ISS total score
      • 4.4.2General irony
      • 4.4.3Face-saving
      • 4.4.4Embarrassment diffusion
      • 4.4.5Frustration diffusion
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Limitations and future directions
  • Notes
  • References
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