Researchers have found that kids as young as four years old can be sarcastic and studies have shown that exposure to sarcasm can improve problem-solving skills. So when your preschool child rolls her eyes and utters something snarky, try not to cringe; she’s just being precocious.
Being sarcastic seems somehow essential to our modern society. “Our culture in particular is permeated with sarcasm,” says Katherine Rankin, a neuropsychologist at the University of California at San Francisco. “People who don’t understand sarcasm are immediately noticed. They’re not getting it. They’re not socially adept.” So what’s the dividing line between socially adept and overly sarcastic? If you see yourself in any of the statements below, well…you know.
1. Movies like The Notebook make you cringe.
Is it because emotional moments make you uncomfortable or do you just have a compulsive need to engage in witty banter? For many people, being sarcastic is a defense mechanism that allows them to defuse emotional situations. And some of those movies are pretty bad, so why not liven things up, right?
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