Title: How to Deal with Sarcastic People | Savvy Psychologist
Headings: How to Deal with Mean Sarcasm
How to Deal with Mean Sarcasm
6-minute read
Featured on QDT
Sarcasm requires more advanced thinking skills
This doesn't mean sarcastic people are smarter, despite what some Internet articles might want you to believe.
Neither human judges nor machine algorithms are very good at identifying sarcasm on Twitter.
Why do people use sarcasm?
Next time you call customer service, your best bet is to be nice.
How to respond to mean sarcasm
Response #1: Answer them literally
Respond with the opposite of sarcasm—sincerity.
Response #2: Ignore them (and maybe throw some compassion their way)
Response #3: Label real feelings and follow up with sincere questions
Response #4: Give some free advice
About the Author
Jade Wu, PhD
More Tips from Savvy Psychologist

Content: Simply put, it’s because the tone and content oppose each other. A sincere comment in a positive tone—“That is so original!”—or a critical comment in a negative tone—“That is so cliche"—are congruent. A sarcastic comment, however, is often a positive message with a negative tone—“Wow, that’s original!”—which is more complicated for the brain to process. This doesn't mean sarcastic people are smarter, despite what some Internet articles might want you to believe. Now, this doesn't mean sarcastic people are smarter, despite what some Internet articles might want you to believe. It simply means that the ability to use and understand sarcasm requires a skill called Theory of Mind, which is the ability to detect the mental states of others, including their true feelings, thoughts, and intentions. So even though what is said is the opposite of what is meant, the sarcastic individual intends the listener to detect the true meaning. That’s why those with deficits in Theory of Mind—like people with schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, or autism—have a hard time understanding or using sarcasm. Now that we interact with each other on the Internet as much as (or perhaps more than) we do in person, we have to take our sarcasm detection skills up a notch, since many web-based communications don’t include tone. Researchers have even developed algorithms to detect sarcastic Tweets, with some even using emojis.