".... and .... off we're busy don't bother us you big ...-....! Jeezus that felt good!"

Swearing is actually good for you, study finds

Katelyn Verstraten
Friday, May 16, 2014

Swearing: Research previously found curse words helped with stress. Now it's suggested the words leap to mind after frustration. (Torstar News Service)

Feeling guilty about the last time you let out a string of not-so-polite swear words? Don't — it might actually make you feel a lot *&%$#@! better.

Dr. Richard Stephens, a Researcher and Senior Lecturer in psychology at Keele University in the United Kingdom, is exploring the idea that swearing is a constructive way to deal with pain and frustration.

"Swearing is not necessarily a negative thing," he said by phone from his home. "It can be a linguistic tool when dealing with frustrating events."

Stephens and his colleagues have been investigating the benefits of swearing since 2009, when they published their first study on the link to pain in the Journal NeuroReport.

In that study, 67 participants submerged their hands in ice water for as long as possible. They were then asked to repeat either a swear word or a word that wouldn't make their grandmothers cringe.

The people who swore — the f-word and s--- were apparently top choices — were able to tolerate the pain of the ice water significantly longer than those only permitted to say neutral words.

Swearing appears to trigger a flight or fight response, said Stephens, which then releases endorphins that diminish the pain.

He presented the results of his latest study this month at the 2014 British Psychological Society annual conference in Birmingham, England.

This time, the research questioned whether a person's emotional state would change their swearing fluency.

Sixty participants played either a sedate golf video game or a violent shooting one. Then participants were told to write down as many swear words as they could recall in a limited amount of time.

Participants shooting video game characters recalled significantly more "bad words" than those playing a leisurely round of video golf.

These findings suggest that when emotionally aroused, people become more fluent cursers.

Some have criticized Stephens' body of research but for the most part people are quite interested, he said.

"Some people think it's frivolous. But it's tapping into emotion, which helps us better understand people.

Besides, everybody swears."

When asked about his favourite swear word, Stephens asked his young daughter for her opinion.

"My daughter tells me I really like the f-word," he said, chuckling.

"I do like to use that one."