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Does swearing make you stronger? Science says yes.
- On December 18, the research team led by Richard Stephens, PhD, published in American Psychologist that swearing produced measurable gains in physical performance and pain tolerance among study participants.
- Building on Stephens and other researchers' prior studies, the team tested whether swearing acts as a form of state disinhibition to explain performance gains, aiming to understand underlying mechanisms.
- Methodologically, the experiments combined physical tasks and self-report measures, with 192 participants repeating a swear or neutral word every two seconds during chair push-ups, followed by ice-water pain-threshold tests and questionnaires measuring humor, distraction and self-confidence.
- Importantly, only the F-word affected pain outcomes, while made-up words like 'fouch' and 'twizpipe' had no effect, and researchers linked performance gains to psychological flow, distraction and self-confidence in athletics and physical rehabilitation.
- Next, the team will study swearing in public speaking and romantic approach behaviors, but authors caution that future research and testing of more profanities are needed since evidence on inhibitions is not definitive.
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Watauga Democrat+19 Reposted by 19 other sources
Great f**king news? Science says swearing’s really good for you
New research by psychologists suggests that being a potty-mouthed person really can be good for your well-being.
·Calhoun, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources31
Leaning Left4Leaning Right2Center10Last UpdatedBias Distribution63% Center
Bias Distribution
- 63% of the sources are Center
63% Center
L 25%
C 63%
12%
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