Whether there’s a reason behind it or not, if I’m feeling more than a little crabby it is nice to be able to inject that bad attitude into a character, and blow off some steam. Interacting with characters meant to respond in various fashions to your choices is a nice way to smooth out any emotional wrinkles, especially if you’re allowed to try to apologize. The npc’s never have to just sit there, and take it, but feedback is what the player is seeking when they boot up a choose your own adventure game to cut loose for a little while; the theme and genre become secondary when this is the goal of the player.
So snark, and rudeness as options are a relief for some players. I’m in the “would rather pick nice options first” camp, but bad mood days can happen to anyone.
On the opposite end of the scale, sometimes just picking the ‘nice/respectful’ options can improve a bad mood just by diving into the story’s narrative. “Escapism”, or just putting it off until you can look at it with a more neutral/cooled off perspective that negative venting alone wouldn’t accomplish sometimes.
It’s not just a matter of “coping” when a person wants to get away from negativity–it is a matter of overcoming it, too.