Using information of relationship closeness in the comprehension of Chinese ironic criticism: Evidence from behavioral experiments

Abstract

This study investigated whether native Chinese speakers’ comprehension of ironic criticism is constrained by relationship closeness in two experiments. In Experiment One, participants read conversations in which speakers were close or distant in relationships and made ironic or literal remarks, and then rated the degree of sarcasm, humor, and the appropriateness of each conversation. In Experiment Two, another group of participants read those conversations and answered questions by pressing the keyboard at their own pace. Ironic criticism made by close acquaintances was less sarcastic as well as more humorous and appropriate than that made by distant ones. Besides, close relationships facilitated the processing of the target sentences of ironies, and ironic target sentences were processed at a slower pace than literal ones only in the distant-relationship condition. To conclude, relationship closeness influences the comprehension of Chinese ironic criticism both in terms of its pragmatic dimensions and the costs in reading.

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