Go ahead and swear—it’s good for your health
Shouting a well-timed swear word isn’t just emotionally satisfying: it can have real physical and psychological benefits. In fact, a well-spoken swear word might even help you take it to the next level during a particularly intense workout.
“In many situations, people consciously or unconsciously prevent themselves from using their full strength,” says Richard Stephens, a psychologist at Keele University in the United Kingdom. “Swearing is an easily accessible way to help you feel focused, confident and less distracted, and to “go for it” a little more.
Stephens and his fellow researchers frequently examine the mental and tangible effects of swearing. Their previous work found a clear link between “swear words” and better performance during physical challenges, such as keeping one hand submerged in ice water or supporting body weight during chair push-ups.
“This is now a reliable and well-reproduced finding,” Stephens said. “But the question is: how does swearing help us? What is the psychological mechanism?”
For a follow-up study published today in the journal American psychologist, Researchers instructed 192 volunteers to say either a swear word of their choice or a neutral word every two seconds while doing chair push-ups. After completing the exercise, participants then completed a mental state survey, including questions related to disinhibition, humor, distraction, self-confidence, and emotional positivity. These queries were also structured to measure psychological flow, the term for the feeling a person experiences when they are pleasantly focused on an activity.
Similar to their previous study, Stephens noted that people who cursed during their exercises were able to continue doing chair push-ups for a “much longer” duration than volunteers who simply said a neutral word. In combination with previous research, the team believes that the use of a socially designated swear word may offer a direct link to participants’ reports of psychological flow, self-confidence and focus.
“These findings help explain why swearing is so common,” Stephens said. “Swearing is literally a calorie-neutral, drug-free, inexpensive, and readily available tool at our disposal when we need to improve our performance. »
With possible consequences in the field of athletics, physical rehabilitation and even when our daily interactions require a little extra chutzpahthe study authors added that “swearing may represent an inexpensive and widely accessible psychological intervention to help individuals ‘not hold back’ when optimal performance is needed.”
So the next time you’re faced with a particularly daunting or stressful task, go ahead and let it go. The benefits might outweigh the raised eyebrows.
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