Psychologist Alberto Dionigi has found that individuals who frequently use sarcasm and dark humor are more likely to exhibit complex, maladaptive personality traits.
The findings, reported by online news publication PsyPost, were derived from a scientific study published in the academic journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts. Researchers emphasized that the study evaluates non-clinical character tendencies rather than diagnosing formal mental health disorders in participants.
The investigation examined 599 adult residents in Italy, whose average age was approximately 40 years. Participants completed online questionnaires designed to measure their inclination toward eight distinct humor styles: cheerful, friendly, absurd, witty, ironic, satirical, sarcastic, and cynical or dark humor.
Psychological assessments of humor frequently categorize styles into adaptive and maladaptive forms. Adaptive humor typically fosters social connection, whereas aggressive or self-defeating styles can reflect underlying psychological friction or coping mechanisms.
Humor styles and personality traits
Researchers compared the questionnaire results against scores across ten categories of maladaptive personality traits: avoidant, dependent, passive-aggressive, obsessive-compulsive, antisocial, narcissistic, histrionic, schizoid, paranoid, and borderline tendencies.
Sarcasm and cynicism demonstrated the strongest correlation with problematic personality traits. Statistical models indicated that these two humor styles accounted for up to 23 percent of the variance in how frequently participants engaged in dark humor. Specifically, cynical and sarcastic humor aligned most strongly with passive-aggressive, antisocial, narcissistic, histrionic, and borderline traits.
Dionigi, a cognitive-behavioral psychotherapist who led the research team, explained that the primary conclusion was that humor is not inherently positive or negative. Instead, he noted that the psychological impact depends entirely on how individuals deploy humor in daily life.
Irony, satire and lighter humor
The study also revealed nuanced connections involving irony and satire, though these links were notably weaker than those found with sarcasm. Satire correlated primarily with narcissistic and obsessive-compulsive tendencies, while irony was associated with borderline, paranoid, and obsessive-compulsive traits. The authors suggested that irony may serve in certain instances as a coping strategy to help individuals maintain psychological distance from challenging emotions.
Conversely, lighter styles of humor showed far weaker ties to problematic character traits. Cheerful and friendly humor were predominantly linked to active social interaction, playfulness, and cognitive flexibility. However, individuals exhibiting avoidant traits showed a negative correlation with cheerful humor, friendly banter, absurd humor, and wit.
Study limitations and related research
The authors explicitly highlighted several limitations of their work, noting that the study relied on a specific sample group and self-reported online data. They cautioned against assuming that a sarcastic or cynical person necessarily suffers from a personality disorder.
The study adds to a growing body of research examining how daily behaviors reflect psychological profiles. Related scientific findings previously reported by news agency UNIAN indicate that birth order may influence certain health outcomes, with firstborn children showing higher rates of autism, allergies, and ADHD, while second-born children experience higher rates of substance use issues and gastrointestinal disorders. Additional research shows that individuals who do not wear wristwatches experience time differently, as temporal perception depends heavily on attention, memory, and situational context.
