Swearing Is Actually a Sign of More Intelligence - Not Less - Say Scientists
You're damn right.
RICHARD STEPHENS, THE CONVERSATION
2 FEB 2017
The use of obscene or taboo language - or swearing, as it’s more
commonly known - is often seen as a sign that the speaker lacks
vocabulary, cannot express themselves in a less offensive way, or even
lacks intelligence.
Studies have shown, however, that swearing may in fact display a more, rather than less, intelligent use of language.
While swearing can become a habit, we choose to swear in different contexts and for different purposes: for linguistic effect, to convey emotion, for laughs, or perhaps even to be deliberately nasty.
Psychologists
interested in when and why people swear try to look past the stereotype
that swearing is the language of the unintelligent and illiterate.
The
former - verbal fluency - can be measured by asking volunteers to think
of as many words beginning with a certain letter of the alphabet as
they can in 1 minute.
People with greater language skills can
generally think of more examples in the allotted time. Based on this
approach, the researchers created the swearing fluency task. This task
requires volunteers to list as many different swear words as they can
think of in 1 minute.
By comparing scores from both the verbal and swearing fluency
tasks, it was found that the people who scored highest on the verbal
fluency test also tended to do best on the swearing fluency task. The
weakest in the verbal fluency test also did poorly on the swearing
fluency task.
What this correlation suggests is that swearing
isn’t simply a sign of language poverty, lack of general vocabulary, or
low intelligence.
Instead, swearing appears to be a feature of
language that an articulate speaker can use in order to communicate with
maximum effectiveness. And actually, some uses of swearing go beyond
just communication.
Natural pain relief
Research we conducted involved asking volunteers to hold their hand in iced water for as long as they could tolerate, while repeating a swear word.
The
same set of participants underwent the iced water test on a separate
occasion, but this time they repeated a neutral, non-swear word. The
heart rate of both sets of participants was monitored.
What we
found was that those who swore withstood the pain of the ice-cold water
for longer, rated it as less painful, and showed a greater increase in
heart rate when compared to those who repeated a neutral word.
This
suggests they had an emotional response to swearing and an activation
of the fight or flight response: a natural defence mechanism that not
only releases adrenalin and quickens the pulse, but also includes a
natural pain relief known as stress-induced analgesia.
This
research was inspired by the birth of my daughter when my wife swore
profusely during agonising contractions. The midwives were surprisingly
unfazed, and told us that swearing is a normal and common occurrence
during childbirth - perhaps for reasons similar to our iced water study.
Two-way emotional relationship
We wanted to further investigate how swearing and emotion are linked. Our most recent study
aimed to assess the opposite of the original research, so instead of
looking at whether swearing induced emotion in the speaker we examined
whether emotion could cause an increase in swearing fluency.
Participants
were asked to play a first person shooter video game in order to
generate emotional arousal in the laboratory. They played for ten
minutes, during which they explored a virtual environment and fought and
shot at a variety of enemies.
We found that this was a successful
way to arouse emotions, since the participants reported feeling more
aggressive afterwards when compared with those who played a golf video
game.
Next, the participants undertook the swearing fluency task.
As predicted, the participants who played the shooting game were able
to list a greater number of swear words than those who played the golf
game.
This confirms a two-way relationship between swearing and
emotion. Not only can swearing provoke an emotional response, as shown
with the iced water study, but emotional arousal can also facilitate
greater swearing fluency.
What this collection of studies shows is
that there is more to swearing than simply causing offence, or a lack
of verbal hygiene. Language is a sophisticated toolkit, and swearing is a
part of it.
Unsurprisingly, many of the final words of pilots killed in air-crashes
captured on the 'black box' flight recorder feature swearing. And this
emphasises a crucial point, that swearing must be important given its
prominence in matters of life and death.
The fact is that the size
of your vocabulary of swear words is linked with your overall
vocabulary, and swearing is inextricably linked to the experience and
expression of feelings and emotions.
It's long been associated with anger and coarseness but profanity can have another, more positive connotation. Psychologists have learned that people who frequently curse are being more honest.
Writing in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science a team of researchers from the Netherlands, the UK, the USA and Hong Kong report that people who use profanity are less likely to be associated with lying and deception.
Profanity is obscene language which, in some social settings is considered inappropriate and unacceptable. It often refers to language that contains sexual references, blasphemy or other vulgar terms. It's usually related to the expression of emotions such as anger, frustration or surprise. But profanity can also be used to entertain and win over audiences.
There are conflicting attitudes to profanity and its social impact has changed over the decades. In 1939, Clark Gable uttering the memorable line "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" in the film Gone with the Wind, was enough to land the producers a $5,000 fine. Nowadays our movies, TV shows and books are peppered with profane words and, for the most part, we are more tolerant of them.
As dishonesty and profanity are both considered deviant they are often viewed as evidence of low moral standards. On the other hand, profanity can be positively associated with honesty. It is often used to express unfiltered feelings and sincerity. The researchers cite the example of President-elect Donald Trump who used swear words in some of his speeches while campaigning in last year's US election and was considered, by some, to be more genuine than his rivals.
It's
long been associated with anger and coarseness but profanity can have
another, more positive connotation. Psychologists have learned that
people who frequently curse are being more honest. Writing in the
journal Social Psychological and Personality Science a team of
researchers from the Netherlands, the UK, the USA and Hong Kong report
that people who use profanity are less likely to be associated with
lying and deception.
Profanity is
obscene language which, in some social settings is considered
inappropriate and unacceptable. It often refers to language that
contains sexual references, blasphemy or other vulgar terms. It's
usually related to the expression of emotions such as anger, frustration
or surprise. But profanity can also be used to entertain and win over
audiences.
There are conflicting attitudes to profanity and its social impact
has changed over the decades. In 1939, Clark Gable uttering the
memorable line "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" in the film Gone
with the Wind, was enough to land the producers a $5,000 fine. Nowadays
our movies, TV shows and books are peppered with profane words and, for
the most part, we are more tolerant of them.
As dishonesty and profanity are both considered deviant they are
often viewed as evidence of low moral standards. On the other hand,
profanity can be positively associated with honesty. It is often used to
express unfiltered feelings and sincerity. The researchers cite the
example of President-elect Donald Trump who used swear words in some of
his speeches while campaigning in last year's US election and was
considered, by some, to be more genuine than his rivals.
Credit: debaird
It's long been associated with anger and
coarseness but profanity can have another, more positive connotation.
Psychologists have learned that people who frequently curse are being
more honest. Writing in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science
a team of researchers from the Netherlands, the UK, the USA and Hong
Kong report that people who use profanity are less likely to be
associated with lying and deception.
Profanity is
obscene language which, in some social settings is considered
inappropriate and unacceptable. It often refers to language that
contains sexual references, blasphemy or other vulgar terms. It's
usually related to the expression of emotions such as anger, frustration
or surprise. But profanity can also be used to entertain and win over
audiences.
There are conflicting attitudes to profanity and its social impact
has changed over the decades. In 1939, Clark Gable uttering the
memorable line "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" in the film Gone
with the Wind, was enough to land the producers a $5,000 fine. Nowadays
our movies, TV shows and books are peppered with profane words and, for
the most part, we are more tolerant of them.
As dishonesty and profanity are both considered deviant they are
often viewed as evidence of low moral standards. On the other hand,
profanity can be positively associated with honesty. It is often used to
express unfiltered feelings and sincerity. The researchers cite the
example of President-elect Donald Trump who used swear words in some of
his speeches while campaigning in last year's US election and was
considered, by some, to be more genuine than his rivals.
Credit: University of CambridgeDr David Stillwell, a lecturer in Big Data Analytics at the
University of Cambridge, and a co-author on the paper, says: "The
relationship between profanity and dishonesty is a tricky one. Swearing
is often inappropriate but it can also be evidence that someone is
telling you their honest opinion. Just as they aren't filtering their
language to be more palatable, they're also not filtering their views. "
The international team of researchers set out to gauge people's views
about this sort of language in a series of questionnaires which
included interactions with social media users.
In the first questionnaire 276 participants were asked to list their
most commonly used and favourite swear words. They were also asked to
rate their reasons for using these words and then took part in a lie
test to determine whether they were being truthful or simply responding
in the way they thought was socially acceptable. Those who wrote down a
higher number of curse words were less likely to be lying.
A second survey involved collecting data from 75,000 Facebook users to measure their use of swear words
in their online social interactions. The research found that those who
used more profanity were also more likely to use language patterns that
have been shown in previous research to be related to honesty, such as
using pronouns like "I" and "me". The Facebook users were recruited from
across the United States and their responses highlight the differing
views to profanity that exist between different geographical areas. For
example, those in the north-eastern states (such as Connecticut,
Delaware, New Jersey and New York) were more likely to swear whereas
people were less likely to in the southern states (South Carolina,
Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi).
More information:
Gilad Feldman et al "Frankly, we
do give a damn: The relationship between profanity and honesty" DOI: 10.1177/1948550616681055, PDF: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/gsb/files/publication-pdf/profanity.pdf
Credit: debaird
It's long been associated with anger and
coarseness but profanity can have another, more positive connotation.
Psychologists have learned that people who frequently curse are being
more honest. Writing in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science
a team of researchers from the Netherlands, the UK, the USA and Hong
Kong report that people who use profanity are less likely to be
associated with lying and deception.
Profanity is
obscene language which, in some social settings is considered
inappropriate and unacceptable. It often refers to language that
contains sexual references, blasphemy or other vulgar terms. It's
usually related to the expression of emotions such as anger, frustration
or surprise. But profanity can also be used to entertain and win over
audiences.
There are conflicting attitudes to profanity and its social impact
has changed over the decades. In 1939, Clark Gable uttering the
memorable line "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" in the film Gone
with the Wind, was enough to land the producers a $5,000 fine. Nowadays
our movies, TV shows and books are peppered with profane words and, for
the most part, we are more tolerant of them.
As dishonesty and profanity are both considered deviant they are
often viewed as evidence of low moral standards. On the other hand,
profanity can be positively associated with honesty. It is often used to
express unfiltered feelings and sincerity. The researchers cite the
example of President-elect Donald Trump who used swear words in some of
his speeches while campaigning in last year's US election and was
considered, by some, to be more genuine than his rivals.
Credit: University of CambridgeDr David Stillwell, a lecturer in Big Data Analytics at the
University of Cambridge, and a co-author on the paper, says: "The
relationship between profanity and dishonesty is a tricky one. Swearing
is often inappropriate but it can also be evidence that someone is
telling you their honest opinion. Just as they aren't filtering their
language to be more palatable, they're also not filtering their views. "
The international team of researchers set out to gauge people's views
about this sort of language in a series of questionnaires which
included interactions with social media users.
In the first questionnaire 276 participants were asked to list their
most commonly used and favourite swear words. They were also asked to
rate their reasons for using these words and then took part in a lie
test to determine whether they were being truthful or simply responding
in the way they thought was socially acceptable. Those who wrote down a
higher number of curse words were less likely to be lying.
A second survey involved collecting data from 75,000 Facebook users to measure their use of swear words
in their online social interactions. The research found that those who
used more profanity were also more likely to use language patterns that
have been shown in previous research to be related to honesty, such as
using pronouns like "I" and "me". The Facebook users were recruited from
across the United States and their responses highlight the differing
views to profanity that exist between different geographical areas. For
example, those in the north-eastern states (such as Connecticut,
Delaware, New Jersey and New York) were more likely to swear whereas
people were less likely to in the southern states (South Carolina,
Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi).
More information:
Gilad Feldman et al "Frankly, we
do give a damn: The relationship between profanity and honesty" DOI: 10.1177/1948550616681055, PDF: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/gsb/files/publication-pdf/profanity.pdf
Credit: debaird
It's long been associated with anger and
coarseness but profanity can have another, more positive connotation.
Psychologists have learned that people who frequently curse are being
more honest. Writing in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science
a team of researchers from the Netherlands, the UK, the USA and Hong
Kong report that people who use profanity are less likely to be
associated with lying and deception.
Profanity is
obscene language which, in some social settings is considered
inappropriate and unacceptable. It often refers to language that
contains sexual references, blasphemy or other vulgar terms. It's
usually related to the expression of emotions such as anger, frustration
or surprise. But profanity can also be used to entertain and win over
audiences.
There are conflicting attitudes to profanity and its social impact
has changed over the decades. In 1939, Clark Gable uttering the
memorable line "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" in the film Gone
with the Wind, was enough to land the producers a $5,000 fine. Nowadays
our movies, TV shows and books are peppered with profane words and, for
the most part, we are more tolerant of them.
As dishonesty and profanity are both considered deviant they are
often viewed as evidence of low moral standards. On the other hand,
profanity can be positively associated with honesty. It is often used to
express unfiltered feelings and sincerity. The researchers cite the
example of President-elect Donald Trump who used swear words in some of
his speeches while campaigning in last year's US election and was
considered, by some, to be more genuine than his rivals.
Credit: University of CambridgeDr David Stillwell, a lecturer in Big Data Analytics at the
University of Cambridge, and a co-author on the paper, says: "The
relationship between profanity and dishonesty is a tricky one. Swearing
is often inappropriate but it can also be evidence that someone is
telling you their honest opinion. Just as they aren't filtering their
language to be more palatable, they're also not filtering their views. "
The international team of researchers set out to gauge people's views
about this sort of language in a series of questionnaires which
included interactions with social media users.
In the first questionnaire 276 participants were asked to list their
most commonly used and favourite swear words. They were also asked to
rate their reasons for using these words and then took part in a lie
test to determine whether they were being truthful or simply responding
in the way they thought was socially acceptable. Those who wrote down a
higher number of curse words were less likely to be lying.
A second survey involved collecting data from 75,000 Facebook users to measure their use of swear words
in their online social interactions. The research found that those who
used more profanity were also more likely to use language patterns that
have been shown in previous research to be related to honesty, such as
using pronouns like "I" and "me". The Facebook users were recruited from
across the United States and their responses highlight the differing
views to profanity that exist between different geographical areas. For
example, those in the north-eastern states (such as Connecticut,
Delaware, New Jersey and New York) were more likely to swear whereas
people were less likely to in the southern states (South Carolina,
Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi).
More information:
Gilad Feldman et al "Frankly, we
do give a damn: The relationship between profanity and honesty" DOI: 10.1177/1948550616681055, PDF: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/gsb/files/publication-pdf/profanity.pdf
Dr David Stillwell, a lecturer in Big Data Analytics at the University of Cambridge, and a co-author on the paper, says: "The relationship between profanity and dishonesty is a tricky one. Swearing is often inappropriate but it can also be evidence that someone is telling you their honest opinion. Just as they aren't filtering their language to be more palatable, they're also not filtering their views. "
The international team of researchers set out to gauge people's views about this sort of language in a series of questionnaires which included interactions with social media users.
In the first questionnaire 276 participants were asked to list their most commonly used and favourite
swear words. They were also asked to rate their reasons for using these words and then took part in a lie test to determine whether they were being truthful or simply responding in the way they thought was socially acceptable. Those who wrote down a higher number of curse words were less likely to be lying.
A second survey involved collecting data from 75,000 Facebook users to measure their use of swear words in their online social interactions. The research found that those who used more profanity were also more likely to use language patterns that have been shown in previous research to be related to honesty, such as using pronouns like "I" and "me". The Facebook users were recruited from across the United States and their responses highlight the differing views to profanity that exist between different geographical areas. For example, those in the north-eastern states (such as Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and New York) were more likely to swear whereas people were less likely to in the southern states (South Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi).
New study shows that swearing is associated with honesty
Let’s start with the obvious: parents fucking swear. We swear in our
heads. We swear out loud. We swear when we’re out with friends, on
social media, and sometimes in front of our kids. We all do at some
point or another. In fact, if you’ve never uttered a profanity in your
shiny pristine life, you’re a lying liar. Sweary people are honest
people. Science says so.
Science already told us that swearing is a sign of intelligence, and we’re not fucking our kids up if we drop a dammit in front of them now and then. We’re tired of being told to talk like a lady, and our love for a well-placed eff bomb is just who we are.
We might not have needed another reason to embrace our sweary sides and
let go of some guilt, yet here we have it. Because science kicks ass.
In a two-part study titled
“Frankly, we do give a damn: The relationship between profanity and
honesty,” – which is just about the best name for a study ever – researchers
from the Universities of Hong Kong, Stanford, Cambridge and Maastricht
looked at the swearing habits of 276 participants and assessed how
honest they were in various situations. They found that while liars
typically prefer third-person pronouns and negative words in their
speech, honest people are more likely to swear. In other words, the most
honest people in the study also cussed the most.
The second part of the study involved testing these findings in a
real life social context. Enter Facebook. After looking at the Facebook
status updates of more than 73,000 people, they came to the same
conclusion: honesty was associated with swearing.
“The consistent findings across the studies suggest that the positive
relation between profanity and honesty is robust, and that the
relationship found at the individual level indeed translates to the
society level,” said the study.
According to The Independent,
the researchers also found that people were much more likely to swear
as a way of expressing themselves and their emotions, instead of
swearing to be anti-social or harmful to other people. In other words,
we swear because this is who are, not because we want to piss anyone
off.
Last year, science told us it’s okay if we swear in front of our kids. A few years ago, science also told us that swearing is a sign of intelligence,
and we all know swearing is the only appropriate response to the myriad
shitastrophes that come along with parenting and life in general.
Because when the shit hits the fan, a goshdarnit or jerkface just doesn’t come close to a dammit all to hell or douchey asshat. Not to mention swearing is empowering AF, and few mantras are as motivating as a boldly stated as Fuck. This. Shit.
We didn’t need another reason to give the pearl clutchers the middle
finger and embrace our sweary badassery. Swearing is reward enough. It
feels great and it’s fun as hell. A few weeks ago, my son asked me if he
could give me the middle finger “just to see how it feels.” Sure, I said, and he cautiously flipped me off.
“This feels so GOOD!” he giggled. Of course it does. I agreed with
him and our entire family spent ten minutes giving each other the middle
finger and laughing our asses off. It was the most fun we had all week,
because sometimes swearing is just what you need.
So while not everyone embraces their inner swearyness, those of us
who do cuss like a motherfucker can rest assured that it’s not only a
sign of intelligence, but also a sign of honesty.
And if you say otherwise, well, you’re probably lying.
More information:
Gilad Feldman et al "Frankly, we
do give a damn: The relationship between profanity and honesty" DOI: 10.1177/1948550616681055, PDF: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/gsb/files/publication-pdf/profanity.pdf
Explore further:
Foul-mouthed characters in teen books have it all, study finds
More information:
Gilad Feldman et al "Frankly, we
do give a damn: The relationship between profanity and honesty" DOI: 10.1177/1948550616681055, PDF: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/gsb/files/publication-pdf/profanity.pdf
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