The Negative Effects of Teasing & Sarcasm

Reactive Behavior

• People with reactive personalities tend to be teased more often than people without reactive personalities. When someone with an already-reactive personality is teased, then these personality traits are set in stone because repeating a behavior makes it more pronounced. So, someone who is teased often will become more reactive to other peoples' behavior and become more pessimistic, aggressive and withdrawn.

Self-Esteem

• Topics of teasing are not random. Rather, a teaser will make fun of specific characteristics. An overweight person will be teased for being overweight; someone with an accent will be teased for the way he speaks. If someone is sensitive about these weaknesses, he will feel like they are the only thing people notice about him, and his self-esteem will drop.

Sarcasm and Communication

• Sarcasm is negative because it is prioritizing a cheap laugh over actual communication. When someone responds to someone else with sarcasm, she is not telling the other person what she actually thinks, but rather just making a joke. This means that sarcasm acts as a roadblock towards people actually getting to know one another and also acts as a barrier for problem solving between people who already know one another.

Sarcasm and Respect

• Sarcasm mocks the victim. By saying "nice job," "yeah, I really like that," or something similar in a sarcastic tone, you are showing disrespect toward their efforts. What's more, sarcasm implicitly suggests that the person you are talking to is never deserving of a compliment; hence the compliment in a sarcastic tone. So, a major negative effect of sarcasm is that it conveys profound disrespect.