Well, No S–t!

A new study, “The Utility and Ubiquity of Taboo Words” (HTML in-press version here; abstract and pay version here), looks at the psychology of swearing: Why do we do it? What does it mean when we do? And why does it feel so f—–g good?

From the paper:

A set of 10 words that has remained stable over the past 20 years accounts for 80% of public swearing. Swearing is positively correlated with extraversion and Type A hostility but negatively correlated with agreeableness, conscientiousness, religiosity, and sexual anxiety. The uniquely human facility for swearing evolved and persists because taboo words can communicate emotion information (anger, frustration) more readily than nontaboo words, allowing speakers to achieve a variety of personal and social goals with them (utility).

Yes, for the easily amused, the paper does go on to list the 10 words (bottom of page 12). A couple of them are just blasphemous religious utterances (oh my god, Jesus Christ, etc.); and even a few of the others can now be heard regularly on prime time TV.

Still, while I’m no prude, it’s good to keep a few of them off-limits. Otherwise, they’re no damn fun to say (oops, damn is another one of those all-but-domesticated ones). And they stop performing the functions they’re supposed to perform [err... taboo words ahead]:

We do more than just say swear words; there are specific categories of use that fall under the rubric of swearing. Besides literal or denotative uses (We fucked), the primary use of swearing is for emotional connotation, which occurs in the form of epithets or as insults directed toward others. Epithets are offensive emotional outbursts of single words or phrases used to express the speaker’s frustration, anger, or surprise (Holy shit! Fuck me!). Two-thirds of our swearing data are linked to personal and interpersonal expressions of anger and frustration, which seem to be the main reason for swearing. Insulting forms of taboo word use include name calling and put downs (asshole, bitch) and cursing or wishing harm on someone (e.g., fuck off, eat shit and die). Taboo words are a defining feature of sexual harassment, blasphemy, obscene phone calls, discrimination, hate speech and verbal abuse categories.

Some might ask: Why study swearing at all? Aside from the obvious-if-juvenile pleasure of getting all these words into Perspectives on Psychological Science. The researchers have an answer — or, really, a series of questions they hope might be answered:

Why do some Touretters swear and others do not? Do monolinguals and bilinguals process taboo words similarly? How did we evolve the
capability to swear in the first place? Are there analogous mechanisms in subhuman primates [rs: the idea of primate swearing? pretty awesome.]? … What happens during catharsis; do swear words provide more relief than euphemisms? Can swearing alleviate acute or chronic pain? Does swearing interfere with executive control? If words harm people, how do we measure harm?

Speaking as someone who stubs his toe a lot, I can answer at least one of these questions off the bat: Swearing can alleviate acute pain. As for the others: f—-d if I know.

Image via Wikipedia