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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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The research was conducted by Richard Stephens together with Harry Dowber, Christopher Richardson and Nicholas B. Washmuth, between the University of Keele and the University of Alabama, and was published in American Psychologist
·Italy
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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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Total News Sources37
Leaning Left6Leaning Right3Center10Last UpdatedBias Distribution53% Center
Bias Distribution
- 53% of the sources are Center
53% Center
L 31%
C 53%
R 16%
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