Not everyone knows how to accept their shortcomings with dignity and adequately evaluate themselves. This is quite easy for those who have self-irony. It has been noticed that the ability to laugh at oneself protects a person from negative manifestations, for example, disappointments, insults, and anxieties. Psychologists say that mastering the skill is useful, since healthy self-irony is a sign of a mature intellectual personality.
Self-irony helps a person to adequately relate to himself and not react to other people’s attacks
Self-irony - what a feeling
When asked what self-irony is, psychology offers several definitions, but they all boil down to one essence: it is the ability to treat personal shortcomings with humor, discuss them positively and look for ways to correct them. The advantage of self-irony is that it does not allow resentment to flare up, relieves irritation and stress, and prevents conflicts. The main importance of self-irony is in preserving a person’s mental health, since it can easily be made into positive and constructive criticism.
Important! It is necessary to distinguish self-irony from self-deprecation. It happens that a person, ashamed of his own shortcomings, speaks about himself in a derogatory form, for example, because he is overweight, he calls himself a “fat trust.” This humor is destructive and more like self-flagellation. He evokes pity, not playful ease.
An individual who is trying to master irony must understand that one cannot overdo it in ridiculing oneself. Often behind this feeling are hidden negative emotions about one’s abilities, uncertainty, and self-hatred, which gives the condition a destructive character. For example, destructive irony is clearly visible in this situation: a girl with a long nose calls herself Buratino in the company of friends. She doesn’t seem to be offended when they call her that as a joke, but in reality she suffers.
Ability to analyze
If a person resorts to self-irony, it means that somewhere subconsciously he already knows how to correct an unsatisfactory situation. Sometimes you really need to sort everything out to see the resources available. There comes an understanding that it is not at all necessary to suffer endlessly to get what you want. The accumulation of internal forces will occur when the individual begins to notice emerging opportunities. The ability to analyze current events is a very valuable and significant acquisition. Thanks to this skill, you can reach incredible heights in your career and become part of a big whole. You need to know your mistakes by heart so that you can try never to repeat them again. Self-irony serves this purpose perfectly.
What is self-irony a sign of?
Inferiority complex - what is this feeling?
According to research, the ability to laugh at oneself is an indicator of a balanced psyche, developed intelligence and personal maturity. In addition to everything, the presence of healthy humor emphasizes self-confidence and adequate self-esteem. It has been noticed that others intuitively consider a person who can joke about himself to be especially friendly.
Self-ironic people attract others with their friendliness
Studying a personality with constructive self-irony, experts note its inherent features:
- exclusivity,
- self-sufficiency,
- equilibrium,
- positivity,
- optimism.
Intellectual maturity
The mental development of the individual is of great value. Self-irony is a sign of intelligence, it’s hard to argue with that. In fact, this quality is relatively rare. You need to have a certain intellectual maturity in order to consider the situation from the outside. Trying to make the necessary adjustments in your own life is actually not that easy. People tend to complain about fate, but at the same time they often do not want to change anything in depressing circumstances. After all, it is much easier to complain about general dissatisfaction with life than to try to fix something.
Taking any steps in the direction of your plans is always difficult. There is a great risk that you will be disappointed. But this is not a reason to refuse the necessary efforts.
Components of self-irony
Psychologists warn those who want to develop the ability to laugh intelligently at themselves that a sense of humor alone is not enough. When discussing what self-irony is, it is necessary to highlight its structure, which consists of important personal qualities. It is with their correction that the work on developing positive irony begins.
Striving to become better
Feelings of anxiety and restlessness for no reason - what is this condition?
The main component of self-irony is the need for improvement, which is inherent in everyone from birth. Many people want to improve to one degree or another in their profession, studies, appearance, and mental qualities. Reasonable humor helps to achieve the set goal, since a self-ironic person does not dwell on failures, but moves forward. As a result, the internal potential is revealed, a supply of useful energy appears to realize the plan.
Ability to analyze
The following fact has been revealed: if a person wants to learn to adequately joke about himself, it means that shortcomings are already subconsciously analyzed and there is a desire to correct them. The main technique for analysis is to sort out all the thoughts “on the shelves” of the mind in order to study the available resources. The accumulation of internal strength occurs when a person begins to appreciate all his capabilities.
Important! Learning to analyze current events and approach them with humor means acquiring a valuable quality. Having mastered it, a person can achieve a lot in his family and career. Working on mistakes will help you avoid them in the future.
Developed sense of humor
Gamzatov’s poems: “Two people looked out the window: one saw rain and dirt, the other saw green foliage, spring and a blue sky,” are an illustration of the fact that it is useful to look at some situations with humor. Healthy optimism underlies good humor, helps keep the nervous system in order and creates a positive emotional background.
Healthy irony strengthens the nervous system and creates a good mood
Psychologists give the following characteristics of an optimistic person:
- troubles do not unsettle you;
- the relationship between positivity in life and good health;
- there is a reserve of strength to correct your shortcomings;
- does not blame others and circumstances in case of failure, blames only himself;
- there is no increased anxiety or fear, which helps to be fearless in achieving goals.
Ability to cope with difficulties
Associated with a kind of irony is the ability to cope with life’s difficulties with dignity. For some people this is not easy, as it takes courage and inner strength to overcome obstacles. Psychologists say that self-irony can support a person in choosing a difficult decision and avoid being in the position of a victim. For example, a sane person, assessing the situation, will joke: “It was not - two deaths cannot happen, but one cannot be avoided.”
Taking responsibility
It has been proven that people endowed with positive self-irony know that they can always correct a situation if it gets out of control. There are hidden resources in the arsenal of any intellectual person; in such a process, an ironic look at current events will not hurt.
What self-irony means, an intelligent person understands intuitively. When he wants to achieve something more than just having mediocre achievements, he begins to take active steps. Therefore, if you cannot immediately achieve some heights, it is useful not to be discouraged, but to adopt a smile.
To master the ability to joke about your shortcomings, you must have certain personal qualities
Taking responsibility
A person endowed with self-irony knows that he can correct the situation if it does not suit him. He is aware of his own resources and does not diminish them at all. Accepting responsibility is the most important thing that should be present in the arsenal of a mature personality. Whatever actions we take, it is important to always remember that for every step the individual will someday be accountable to society and to himself.
Thoughts about self-realization and the need to work on character come to the mind of every responsible individual. A sense of self-irony will not hurt here at all. What it is, an intelligent person begins to understand intuitively. When you want to achieve something more than just having mediocre rewards, a person begins to take active steps. It is very important to choose the direction towards the desired goal. If something doesn’t work out right away, you need to look at what’s happening with a smile, not tears.
How to learn self-irony
How to develop a sense of humor - what it is and how it manifests itself
When mastering the secrets of irony, it is important not to turn it into mockery of yourself or others. It should become a reliable defense against inappropriate jokes. Advice from psychologists will tell you how to learn self-irony:
- Increase your horizons to rethink negative phrases;
- Learn to look at life positively, even turn a bad joke to your advantage;
- Examine your shortcomings, determine what you can joke about and what is taboo;
- Develop imagination and thinking, since self-irony is a sign of high intelligence;
- Be able to relax by mastering relaxation techniques;
- Surround yourself with people who know how to laugh at themselves, as empathy will help you joke without offending others;
- Watch the jokes of comedians, since only those who are intelligently ironic can joke about others.
Important! When a person learns to joke, one cannot overdo it with self-irony. Its excess diminishes a person's confidence and intelligence. Rather, it means defense, an attempt to hide behind the mask of a jester.
History of irony
Irony is believed to have originated in Ancient Greece. Thus, in ancient Greek, “to ironize” came to mean “to tell a lie,” “to mock,” “to pretend,” and “ironist” is a person who “deceives with words.” Socrates used irony in his disputes with the Sophists, exposing their conceit and claims to omniscience. She opposed the complacency and limitations of the ordinary consciousness of antiquity. Irony received a certain development in ancient comedy and satirical genres of literature. She also played an important role in the folk culture of laughter. In the Middle Ages, irony was most often used in folk laughter culture. The irony of folk laughter culture has a dual character, since laughter is also directed at the laughers themselves. During the Renaissance, irony was used in the traditions of laughter, festive folk culture, by jesters with crowned heads, as well as in everyday speech. Irony begins to be used as an oratorical technique, as a turn of speech that helps to subject someone to ridicule in the form of a “hidden hint.” Thus, jesters often laughed at their masters. But irony acquired a special role in the Baroque era, because in its philosophy there appeared a desire to compare different things and unexpectedly reveal the similarities of dissimilar things, which was considered the most essential in this culture. At the end of the 19th century, a further complication of the picture of the world occurred, for which the consciousness of society was not ready. This caused conflicting reactions. Some were fascinated by the emerging possibilities of scientific and technological progress and enthusiastically welcomed the new century. Others were alarmed by the destruction of the traditional foundations of the simple and clear values of the world. This resulted in fatigue, lethargy and unnaturalness of irony. So, having looked at the entire “history of the existence of irony,” we can conclude that irony existed from the earliest times and was of great importance, both psychological and literary
With its help, the great ancient Greek philosophers tried to offend their colleagues by pointing out their stupidity and using self-irony to draw more attention to themselves, jesters tried to ridicule their masters so that they would not understand that they were actually being insulted. Writers in their texts tried to show their dissatisfaction with the authorities using irony, or simply describe a character or situation more vividly
Examples of self-irony from life
Getting acquainted with life examples of self-irony, you can see that the desire to kindly laugh at oneself is easily confused with manipulation. For example, the self-irony of a stuttering student during an exam would be appropriate: “Look at the theses of my diploma on the slide, otherwise we will sit until the morning.” It seems that those around him will appreciate the young man’s humor. But the affectation of a girl who, when persuaded to go to a party, replies that she “dances ugly”, looks more like manipulation. There is a clear desire for those around her to refute her words.
Important! Self-irony should not cause irritation or ridicule in people. On the contrary, it should be a healthy assessment of the situation, a mixture of humor and respect.
The outstanding film star Faina Ranevskaya was famous for her stunning self-irony. Her aphorisms about her appearance, habits, and personal qualities are still successful. For example, to the question “Are you sick?” she answered with humor: “No, I just look like that!”
Even older people know how to diversify their lives with healthy self-irony
Psychologists say that a sense of self-irony, despite its apparent frivolity, is actually an indicator of maturity and wisdom. Only those who are ready to analyze their lives, realize their strengths and weaknesses, see prospects and treat them not with harsh necessity, but easily and positively, are able to skillfully joke about themselves.
History of irony
Irony is believed to have originated in Ancient Greece. Thus, in ancient Greek, “to ironize” came to mean “to tell a lie,” “to mock,” “to pretend,” and “ironist” is a person who “deceives with words.” Socrates used irony in his disputes with the Sophists, exposing their conceit and claims to omniscience. She opposed the complacency and limitations of the ordinary consciousness of antiquity. Irony received a certain development in ancient comedy and satirical genres of literature. She also played an important role in the folk culture of laughter. In the Middle Ages, irony was most often used in folk laughter culture. The irony of folk laughter culture has a dual character, since laughter is also directed at the laughers themselves. During the Renaissance, irony was used in the traditions of laughter, festive folk culture, by jesters with crowned heads, as well as in everyday speech. Irony begins to be used as an oratorical technique, as a turn of speech that helps to subject someone to ridicule in the form of a “hidden hint.” Thus, jesters often laughed at their masters. But irony acquired a special role in the Baroque era, because in its philosophy there appeared a desire to compare different things and unexpectedly reveal the similarities of dissimilar things, which was considered the most essential in this culture. At the end of the 19th century, a further complication of the picture of the world occurred, for which the consciousness of society was not ready. This caused conflicting reactions. Some were fascinated by the emerging possibilities of scientific and technological progress and enthusiastically welcomed the new century. Others were alarmed by the destruction of the traditional foundations of the simple and clear values of the world. This resulted in fatigue, lethargy and unnaturalness of irony. So, having looked at the entire “history of the existence of irony,” we can conclude that irony existed from the earliest times and was of great importance, both psychological and literary
With its help, the great ancient Greek philosophers tried to offend their colleagues by pointing out their stupidity and using self-irony to draw more attention to themselves, jesters tried to ridicule their masters so that they would not understand that they were actually being insulted. Writers in their texts tried to show their dissatisfaction with the authorities using irony, or simply describe a character or situation more vividly
Examples of the use of irony in literature
Various types of allegory have always lived and continue to live in colloquial speech. They are most often used unconsciously. Artistic speech is a completely different matter. Here traditional forms of allegory are given special importance. The use of irony in literature has mainly become widespread where characters or phenomena are depicted in satirical and humorous tones.
A. S. Pushkin condemns the secular society that is unpleasant to him, mockingly calling it “the color of the capital,” “necessary fools,” “faces encountered everywhere.”
Gogol portrays his low and vile heroes with words of feigned praise. Example: “So, two most respectable men, the honor and adornment of Mirgorod, quarreled among themselves! and for what? for nonsense, for the gander.” Calls Chichikov “the most decent person who has ever existed in the world.”
I. Krylov in his fable describes the crow as a beauty and a talented singer.
Irony can serve as a compositional principle. Her goal in doing this is to show the absurdity of what is happening. For example, in the fairy tales of M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, the lyrics of A. Blok, V. Mayakovsky, the prose of M. Bulgakov, A. Platonov.
An ironic author must have a specific gift, a special vision, which presupposes the presence of conceptual vision, mental acuity, and linguistic sensitivity.
Intellectual maturity
The mental development of the individual is of great value. Self-irony is a sign of intelligence, it’s hard to argue with that. In fact, this quality is relatively rare. You need to have a certain intellectual maturity in order to consider the situation from the outside. Trying to make the necessary adjustments in your own life is actually not that easy. People tend to complain about fate, but at the same time they often do not want to change anything in depressing circumstances. After all, it is much easier to complain about general dissatisfaction with life than to try to fix something.
Taking any steps in the direction of your plans is always difficult. There is a great risk that you will be disappointed. But this is not a reason to refuse the necessary efforts.
