Sarcasm may not be taken positively by a lot of people but it has its benefits. A new study found that sarcasm is not only associated with social intelligence but also with creativity.
The study was conducted by experts from high-ranked US Universities. A number of experiments were tested to more than 300 male and female participants. The study intends to explain how receiving and giving sarcastic comments influence creativity. A person was asked to either say a sarcastic comment or receive one. An assignment was then presented at the end to be accomplished by each participant. A certain number of participants represented a control group. They undergo the same procedure except for sarcasm since they were told and gave sincere comments.
64 percent of the group that either gave or receive sarcasm finished the task given while 75 percent of those who were told sarcasm comments achieve the chore. In contrast, only 30 percent of the control group fulfilled the assignment. The study also reveals that those who acquired sarcastic comments show greater creativity than any in other groups, which could aid in many misconceptions that sarcasm bring negative impact toward other. "We were not too surprised by the fact that sarcasm can increase creativity," Huang said. "But the fact that it increases creative thinking for the recipients as well was somewhat a surprise. Only after we found out the common mechanism for expressers and recipients, that is abstract thinking; it started to make sense to us," researchers said.
According to previous studies, creativity is prompted by things that divert your brain's attention to the task on hand and focus on other things. Once a person is less focused, it allows the brain to think freely or meditate, hence creativity is empowered. Based on the results of the study, sarcastic comments can be disturbing and release the mind's creativity.
