If you’ve got a less-than-pleasant habit, now is the time it’s likely on the chopping block, thanks to New Year’s resolutions. But there’s one “foul habit” researchers say you should definitely keep or maybe even pick up if you are already averse to it, because people who do it are quite literally living the best lives. Potty mouthers unite! This one’s for you.
When I use curse words, I often think of the people around me. Was that too inappropriate? Vulgar? Did I offend anyone? Do I sound uneducated? Are there children around? But thanks to research, it looks like I can stop worrying about how it affects others and focus on all the awesome things it’s actually doing for me. Yes, you have full permission to drop the F-bomb loud and proud next time you slip on ice or have a date from hell, because swearing is good for you!
A study found that people who have a foul habit of swearing often are actually living the best lives.
carballo | Shutterstock
U.K. researchers from Keele University found that using your potty mouth can actually boost physical performance and self-confidence because it puts people into a “psychological state that allows them to not ‘hold back’ and to stop over-thinking and start doing.”
Lead author of the study, Dr. Richard Stephens, has become renowned for his research on emotional language and found in previous experiments that when people use bad language, they generally perform better on many physical challenges. The previous studies found that participants could keep their hands in ice water for longer and support their bodyweight during a chair push-up exercise if they were swearing while doing it. According to Dr. Stephens, expletives work as a distraction so pain is literally mitigated.
The latest research takes the physical boost that comes from swearing and asserts that it also lowers inhibitions and has the power to make us bolder.
Being overly cautious isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but being completely risk-averse can also limit a person’s opportunities and success. Swearing can actually help with that.
Regarding the latest research, Dr. Stephens noted, “In many situations, we hold ourselves back and in doing so, limit our opportunities for success. We see this if someone has a fear of public speaking, that can prevent individuals from expressing ideas or seizing personal and professional opportunities, or when athletes return from injury and frequently demonstrate hesitation and reduced self-confidence. ”
He went on to say, “This new research shows how swearing gives us a boost by putting us in a more disinhibited state that helps individuals feel more focused, confident, and overcome internal constraints. It verifies our theory that swearing can act as a simple, low-cost psychological tool that helps people not hold back and go for it a little more. In short, swearing helps us to stop overthinking and start doing. ” Heck, yeah!
As for healing your emotional pain? Researchers believe swearing also makes you feel like a million bucks, calling it a “harmless emotional release.” But don’t go too crazy with this coping mechanism because they think it’s more effective when used sparingly. And the more creative your expletives are, the stronger you’ll feel.
Swearing can be used to boost confidence.
A study last year that asked participants to play either an aggressive video game or a calmer golf game found that the more obscenities in someone’s vocabulary, the better, despite what your mom may have told you.
“Our study found that when we raised people’s emotional arousal level, they became more proficient at swearing such that they were able to produce a greater number of different swear words and expressions in a one-minute period,” said study author Amy Zile. “This provides experimental support for the theory that swearing is emotional language.”
If all this pain relief wasn’t enough, when said (or screamed) at the right times, cursing can also be a confidence-booster. And let’s be real: sometimes there’s nothing that evokes quite as good an emotion as a swear. Whether it boosts your confidence, releases stress, helps with pain, gets you through a particularly difficult workout, or stepping barefoot on a Lego, swearing is by far not as villainous as the general population might have you believe.
So, there you have it. While curse words are bleeped out of your favorite TV shows (unless you get the cool channels), they definitely don’t have to be bleeped out from your life. When used creatively and sparingly, they may just be the very thing that allows you to live your best life. And if sailors can do it, we all should!
Michelle Toglia is an Executive Editor at Elite Daily and Bustle with over 15 years of media experience. Her work has appeared in publications like Huffington Post, Yahoo, and Thought Catalog, among others.
Comments are closed.