Who understands irony? The relationship between cognitive flexibility, trait anger, and irony comprehension

• Published in: Personality and individual differences 2025-04, Vol.236, p.112998, Article 112998
• Main Authors: Olechowska, Anna, Banasik-Jemielniak, Natalia, Rajchert, Joanna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cognitive flexibility; Cognitive process; Irony comprehension; Literal comprehension; Trait anger
• ISSN: 0191-8869
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2024.112998

Figurative language is integral to daily communication, with verbal irony being an example that involves a discrepancy between literal and intended meanings. Understanding irony requires complex cognitive processes, and individual differences play a significant role in this comprehension. Little research has focused on the interplay between traits referring to cognitive and emotional processes in predicting understanding of irony. The aim of the study was to test the relationship between cognitive flexibility, trait anger, and irony comprehension. Cognitive flexibility, the ability to adapt cognitive processes to changing environments, has been linked to better comprehension of complex language forms like irony. Conversely, high trait anger, characterized by frequent and intense anger responses, is expected to narrow cognitive scope and impede irony comprehension. We tested 202 young adult Polish speakers with self-reported measures of cognitive flexibility and trait anger, along with an irony comprehension. The results show a positive relationship between cognitive flexibility and comprehension of all forms of messages (ironic and literal) in low trait anger participants. High intensity of anger may interfere with cognitive capacity by making cognition more narrow and thus, the message less understandable. The findings align with previous studies and broaden the knowledge on predictors of ironic comprehension.