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Most (if not all) of these blursed comments carry a sarcastic tone. You won’t sense malice in them, albeit with a tinge of aggression. And many readers may ask, “What brought this person to respond in this way?”
It could be for a few reasons. According to cognitive psychologist Dr. Albert Katz, it could be an assertion of dominance. As he noted, “It’s related to being top dog.”
Responding with a sardonic comment, as these people did, could also be a way for them to shield themselves from vulnerability. Here’s the explanation from therapist and anger specialist Dr. Steven Stosny:
"Sarcastic people protect themselves by only letting the world see a superficial part of who they are. They're very into impression management."
Sarcastic responses won’t always land well. Formal settings frown on it. But many of you reading this may also find yourselves laughing as you scroll through.
Humor can be contradictory that way, according to behavioral economist and University of Colorado Boulder professor Dr. Peter McGraw.
In an interview with the Association for Psychological Science, Dr. McGraw used the famed slapstick trio The Three Stooges as an example.
“We laugh when Moe hits Larry because we know that Larry’s not really being hurt. “It’s a violation of social norms. You don’t hit people, especially a friend. But it’s okay because it’s not real,” he explained.
We are all wired differently, which means what makes one person laugh may not be funny to another. But according to Dr. McGraw, benign violations of social norms will always crack us up, especially ones that poke fun at relatable human experiences.
This is also why physical humor and slapstick comedy are almost always crowd-pleasers.
“It’s hard to find a comedy that’s funny cross-culturally because the ways that violations can be benign differ from culture to culture,” Dr. McGraw explained. “The comedy that is funny cross-culturally tends to involve a lot of physical humor. The violations are clear no matter who you are.”
