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Sarcasm can be creative! In an article in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, scientists explain that sarcasm actually makes you think out of the box and become creative, as outlined in a press release.

Scientists subjected 300 men and women to some tests that followed sarcastic comments made or heard. Whatever results they got were then given to a control group that underwent the same tests, but which voiced sincere, not sarcastic viewpoints.

"We found that sarcasm may stimulate creativity, the generation of ideas, insights, or problem solutions that are novel and useful," said Li Huang, an author of the study. "As Oscar Wilde believed, sarcasm may represent a lower form of wit, but we found that it certainly catalyzes a higher form of thought."

Interestingly, scientists found that the sarcasm group was "three times more creative", mainly due to the fact that the human brain is called upon to resort to "abstract thinking", calling for creativity.

"To create or decode sarcasm, both the expressers and recipients of sarcasm need to overcome the contradiction (i.e., psychological distance) between the literal and actual meanings of the sarcastic expressions," said Francesca Gino. "This is a process that activates and is facilitated by abstraction, which in turn promotes creative thinking."

Scientists now are trying to check how the tone and content of sarcasm can impact human cognitive processes and how humans relate and reach out to each other.

"We hope our research will inspire organizations and communication coaches to take a renewed look at sarcasm," said Gino. "Instead of discouraging workplace sarcasm completely as they have been doing, they could help educate individuals about the appropriate circumstances under which sarcasm can be used."