Ever laughed at a joke so twisted you instantly questioned your own morals? Turns out, you might not be a terrible person you might just be brilliant.

According to a fascinating study published in Cognitive Processing, people who enjoy black humour (think morgue jokes and absurd death cartoons) tend to score higher on IQ tests and exhibit lower levels of aggression and bad mood.

The Study: Sick Jokes & Smart Minds

Researchers led by Ulrike Willinger at the Medical University of Vienna tested 156 adults roughly half women, average age 33 on their response to 12 pitch-black cartoons from German artist Uli Stein’s The Black Book. One example? A woman in a morgue identifying her husband’s body… while complimenting the laundry detergent used on his corpse-white sheet. Yep, that dark.

Participants rated how well they understood the jokes and how much they enjoyed them. They also took verbal and non-verbal IQ tests and were assessed on mood, aggression, and education.

The Results: Who Got the Joke?

The group that enjoyed and understood the darkest jokes best:

• Had the highest IQs
• Were the most educated
• Showed the lowest levels of aggression
• Were generally in a good mood

In contrast, those with the most aggression and worst mood didn’t enjoy the jokes much at all even if they got them.

So… Why Does This Matter?

Black humour requires a complex kind of mental gymnastics. You have to understand the twisted twist, process the shock, and appreciate the irony without letting personal offense, moral panic, or bad vibes get in the way.

As the researchers put it, this kind of humour is a “complex information-processing task.” Basically, it takes brains and emotional balance to enjoy the darker side of comedy.

Sorry, Freud

Freud once theorised that humour lets us release repressed aggression or taboo urges. But this study suggests something else entirely: that high aggression might actually interfere with enjoying black humour, not fuel it.

The Takeaway

So next time someone raises an eyebrow at your love for twisted comedy, just smile and tell them you’re exercising your intellectual superiority.

Turns out, the darker your humour, the brighter your brain.